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In defense of quitting

In defense of quitting

What I learned from almost ruining my first semester of grad school by overcommitting

February 23, 2023 | Anonymous .

If a hacker were to break into my phone at the beginning of September and read through my notes, this is the first one they would find: I think MIT is full of people who have a hard time saying no to exciting opportunities, and I am no exception. I’ve been following a roughly 4 […]

Whales of quals

Whales of quals

Prioritizing my mental health over qualifying exams

January 17, 2022 | Anonymous .

This is my story of how I prioritized my mental health over qualifying exams. When I was studying for quals1, my phone kept autocorrecting quals to whales. I thought it was funny and poetic, because the stress of quals felt like a whale on me. Before reading this, I want to mention that what you […]

How leaving MIT convinced me to stay

How leaving MIT convinced me to stay

Navigating academia and industry as a grad student

August 11, 2021 | Anonymous .

Industry or academia? It’s a question at the forefront of many MIT grad students’ minds. I first found myself at this crossroads at the end of my undergraduate career, unsure whether I wanted to follow the path of a practicing engineer or that of an academic researcher.

From procrastination to productivity

From procrastination to productivity

How I Found Motivation in a Remote Semester

July 12, 2021 | Anonymous .

A few months after receiving the exciting news that I’d been admitted to MIT, I was informed that my semester of grad school would be fully online. Little did I know that it would turn out much worse than I could’ve ever anticipated. Don’t get me wrong, remote learning has many advantages. There is no […]

Fostering success

Fostering success

Sometimes the youngest kids can teach the biggest lessons

March 26, 2021 | Anonymous .

Over the course of the fall semester, places in the US underwent varying stages of lockdown in hopes of slowing the spread of coronavirus. My hometown had some of the most severe lockdown rules, with all nonessential businesses halted for an extended period of time. But for all the personal sacrifices and isolation, my family […]