In the Art of the City
Boston as a source of culture and adventure
I spent my childhood in Shanghai, the largest city in China. However, as a child, I never had the chance to explore this big city. After I graduated from high school and moved to Pasadena with my family for my undergraduate studies, I became accustomed to life in the suburbs, a place where people drive […]
My Road to Yelp Elite
Eating and reviewing through grad school
Fact: The quickest way to attract students (and usually professors) is to promise food of any kind. Whereas I should be asking, “Interpretable natural language models talk vs. a mentorship lunch for women in computer science?” … I find myself asking, instead, “Do I want free Brazilian BBQ or free Indian curry?” Some graduate students […]
Bundle Up!
Winter survival guide from a tropical islander
I grew up in Puerto Rico (PR), where the average temperature is about 85 degrees Fahrenheit in “winter” time. Despite not knowing what winter meant in New England, I decided to come to MIT for graduate school. I knew that it would be an adjustment, and a few things caught me by surprise, but if […]
Winter Is Coming
The trick to dealing with New England weather
“California native picks MIT for the beautiful Boston weather.” This is a headline that you will never see in an MIT advertising brochure. Whenever I go back home to visit family in sunny SoCal, the most common reaction I get from people when I tell them I go to school here is, “Ooooh, so you […]
Did You Walk from Korea?
Troubles and misunderstandings that I had on my first arrival to MIT
Arriving in from the sweltering heat of a typical Korean summer, the crisp cool weather and matching blue sky which Boston greeted me with was the perfect weather for my start as a new graduate student. And as a graduate student should be, I decided to be frugal and take the T (subway of the […]
