Human Touch
Embracing what you need in graduate school
As native Californian, choosing to attend MIT came as a shock to my family. When I moved to Boston, they started placing bets on whether I would stay past the first blizzard, and how long I would last in general. Luckily for me, I moved to the east coast during one of the tamest Boston […]
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 […]
The Case for Quantum Morality
A thought experiment in support of the many-worlds philosophy
I should start by saying that everything that I’m about to write may or may not be completely bogus. Still, I haven’t convinced myself that it’s not bogus, so I guess I’ll share it anyway. I want to make the claim that our understanding of physics should influence our ethical decisions. To ease you […]
Community Health
Community as an essential component of mental health support
This past October my wife lost a family member—someone who was very close to both of us. We quickly jumped on the first plane to California. I hastily composed an email to my advisor, letting him know that I would have to leave town for a few weeks. His message back was succinct—short enough to […]
Why Choose MIT?
The reasons I came to MIT, and the reasons I'm glad I stayed
When asked the entitled question (“Why Choose MIT?”), especially by prospective students whom I haven’t gotten to know well personally, I’m often at loss as to how to respond. The follow-up question that I’ve always secretly wanted to ask back is this: When your initial reasons for going to MIT are no longer true, can […]
