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My adventures with MIT Sailing!

My adventures with MIT Sailing!

From channeling my inner Moana to almost drowning in the Charles

February 7, 2023 | Vyshnavi V.

I was always drawn to bodies of water like rivers and seas. I had visions of sailing on boats and riding on ferries, but I never imagined that I would learn how to sail myself! When I first arrived at MIT, I heard about the MIT Sailing program, but an obstacle stood in my way: […]

Writer’s block? Experiencing isolation as a researcher or writer? WTO has got you covered!

Writer’s block? Experiencing isolation as a researcher or writer? WTO has got you covered!

How the Writing and Communication Center’s ‘Writing Together Online’ program helped me overcome writer’s block

December 22, 2022 | Vyshnavi V.

In 2019, I was in my second year of PhD when my PhD advisor told me that we had all the results we needed to write up a journal article related to my very first research project. After our meeting that day, I was so excited for two reasons: first, because this was my first […]

Practicing imperfection

Practicing imperfection

The art of turning big failures into little victories

December 16, 2022 | Helen W.

A screenshot of the author’s faulty Java code from one of her first attempts at coding When I TA’d for a quantitative methods class in college, I always kept this image of one of my first attempts at coding handy to show to struggling students. Besides providing some light comedic relief during stressful office hours, […]

Stop sprinting towards your future

Stop sprinting towards your future

What my time in industry taught me

December 8, 2022 | Blythe I.

I always knew I would come back to academia. It didn’t matter that I would be taking at least one year off to work a flashy new job in Seattle biotech. It didn’t matter that the position would be a lot less stressful, and have a lot more benefits, than graduate student life. My mentor […]

First-year reflection

First-year reflection

Is a PhD really for me?

November 16, 2022 | Anzo T.

More than once in our career, most of us will find ourselves asking whether we made the right decision. Often, this questioning is triggered by setbacks, “less-than-ideal” circumstances or a mediocre environment. Without a doubt, the majority of graduate students will probably face this kind of uncertainty during our journey (especially for PhDs, as 5 […]