Dildo.io, Where Did You Go?
The MIT approach to online dating
Cambridge and the online dating landscape When I first arrived in Boston, I was teeming with curiosity and excitement. My thirst for scientific discovery and research was paralleled only by one thing: my eagerness to explore the multitude of online dating platforms. Up until that point, I had never dabbled in this domain but had […]
Are qualifying exams a waste of time?
Often yes
How many times have you heard grad students express concern over qualifying exams or declare that they “survived” it? Qualifying exams (“quals”) can be a grueling process spanning anywhere between 1 to 2 years involving multiple examinations. The effectiveness of such exams depends on specific examination structure and methodology but I believe this post should […]
I didn’t spend any money for 1 month and this is what happened
You probably don’t need to try this yourself
I share my office with a pugnacious Australian graduate student, who delights in competition and regularly poses challenges to me. One afternoon, he provoked me with a contest to determine who could function longer without spending money. He claimed that he had grown tired of the trivial grievances of our contemporaries and wanted to show […]
Ways of Responding to Accusations of Intelligence
Use in case of emergency
An awkward yet common situation that I’ve witnessed at MIT is one in which someone is accused of being intelligent. While grateful for such charitable perceptions, the accused is often left speechless, befuddled or even reflexively defensive. This post is not about how I feel about said accusations, the veracity of such claims, or my […]
How Not to Die Alone
Free cats at MIT
This is an account of how three grad students came to befriend a cat at MIT. Year 1 B.C. (Before the Cat) Grad school can be an isolating experience if you allow yourself to be consumed by the lab or classes. Fortunately, I found at least two acceptable individuals in my program named Guillaume […]
