
Discovering the freedom and fun of art without rules
Letting go of perfectionism through adventures in glass
When I stepped into my first glass torchwork class at Metropolis, one of MIT’s makerspaces, I expected to learn a new type of art. I did not expect my experiences with glass to change the way I organize my life. In my first class, my attempts to create a marble resulted in an unintentional and […]

Cooking made easy
I learned how to cook as a grad student, and you can, too!
My jaw dropped when I heard: “Can I join you for dinner every night until my quals next Friday? I don’t want to think about anything other than my research presentation, and I know anything you cook will be good.” My friend and I both think going straight from the lab to the dorm after […]

Money matters: Part 2
How to make your money work for you as a grad student
If you’ve read part one of this blog post, you know how to use a budget to help manage your money. What can we do with what we save, and how can we make what we spend really count? Beyond budgeting, there are some more advanced moves that we can make with our money, even […]

Money matters: Part 1
Making the most of your stipend
Financial stress is often assumed to be an unavoidable part of the graduate student experience. But does it have to be that way? With a bit of planning and discipline, I have been able to save up enough money to pay off my undergraduate student loans, fund a retirement account, buy a new phone, and […]

Talking to myself through a reverse to-do list
How keeping a “done” list got me through my first few years of grad school.
Communication is the most important skill I have developed in grad school. The types of communication we usually think about are technical and interpersonal communication, such as publishing and presenting your research, or communicating with your advisor. However, one type of communication I overlooked in my first year was communicating to myself. As a first […]