Hobbies: The Big Four
Why many grad students at MIT gravitate towards these four hobbies
Imagine this: It’s evening at the Muddy (the on-campus pub known for its cheap beer) during orientation or a mixer. You’re chatting with people you’ve vaguely gotten familiar with, and your drink of choice has made the awkwardness of meeting people ever-so-slightly less so. The evening lights are dim, and there’s some bustle around you […]
From lattes to legumes: How I found balance in work, life, and finances as a broke grad student
The unexpected benefits of a month of austerity
As May came to a close, my bank account delivered a nasty surprise: a balance teetering just above $200 – starkly contrasted by a credit card bill that could make anyone wince. This gut-punch is all too familiar for grad students like me who are trying to make ends meet on a student stipend in […]
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 […]
Summer from the Sloan Building
A few of my personal time-efficient outings that helped me enjoy my summer (without losing my mind) during my summer course at MIT Sloan
As you walk from Boston to the MIT Dome, you will encounter the famous bridge measured in smoots. At 182.2 smoots ± 1 ear, you will see “HALFWAY TO HELL” written on the concrete. As I read this phrase, I thought to myself that it must be vandalism. Only after the summer term did it […]
My brat summer turned out to be very demure, very mindful
Settling in as an international student
My Instagram DMs witnessed an overwhelming inpour of the ‘Go Kylie Go’ reels from well-meaning friends. I’d bombarded their WhatsApp chats with the horror stories of being unable to add my Forex card to Uber, almost missing my flight, forgetting to pack my toothpaste, and trying to make friends while jet-lagged in a new country. […]
