Blog

Comedy Lab

Comedy Lab

How a research group in EECS became stand-up comedians in 10 weeks

July 1, 2019 | Helen X.

One year ago, my advisor, Prof. Charles Leiserson in CSAIL, arranged for our research group to take a stand-up comedy class with Dana Jay Bein, a local comedian with Improv Boston. Charles sold it to us as an opportunity to work on our communication skills while participating in a fun activity as a group. Nobody […]

Learning to Teach, Teaching to Learn

Learning to Teach, Teaching to Learn

Embracing opportunities to teach at MIT

July 1, 2019 | Casey E.

I love helping people learn. I first got a taste of this at the military academy where I completed my undergraduate degree. I taught new cadets and new Airmen about marching and other aspects of being in the military. Later, I worked an obstacle course where I had to teach safety and proper obstacle completion […]

Learn to Swim

Learn to Swim

One of the many free PE classes offered at MIT

June 24, 2019 | Shashank A.

I was brought up in places far from lakes and rivers. The non-availability of swimming facilities in my high school and college led to my inability to learn to swim until I joined MIT as a graduate student. Here at MIT, however, the presence of Charles River right next to the campus inspired me to […]

Get out of the Lab and See the World!

Get out of the Lab and See the World!

Why traveling – especially solo – is perfect for PhD students

June 24, 2019 | Ally H.

Last September, I anxiously stood in front of my thesis committee, waiting for them to comment on my graduation timeline. To my surprise, not only did they say I could graduate soon, but they even suggested a date — May 2019! My initial reaction was the urge to go climb a rooftop and shout the […]

Sailing Outside My Comfort Zone

Sailing Outside My Comfort Zone

The story of a numerical modeler wandering into the Arctic

June 3, 2019 | Mukund G.

It all started with an email: ‘Urgent: Help needed for a research cruise in the Arctic ocean. No prior experience required’. The message had been sent to my department’s mailing list and described a month-long research opportunity to conduct oceanographic field work along the coast of Alaska. I read the email with a feeling of […]