Digital Dumpster Diving
A Grad Student’s Guide to Facebook Marketplace
I’m unreasonably proud of furnishing almost my entire apartment with second-hand finds. I learned the joy of sifting through discarded items on the side of the road early on. It was quite often that on the way home from soccer practice my parents would pull the car over to inspect a piece of furniture or […]
The art of balance: A myth or reality?
Lessons from a third year PhD student
As a graduate student at MIT, the concept of balance is often discussed as something we should strive for. But is it truly achievable? Can we truly balance our academic responsibilities, research projects, and personal lives? As someone who enjoys nature, exercise, traveling, cooking, and other non-research related activities, I was curious to find a […]
small silver slivers
finding the bright spots in a dark time
It was dark. Like the smallest sliver of a crescent moon, my roommate’s face was barely illuminated by the flickering glow of the twenty-six candles before her. It was just enough to see her manage a smile, lean forward, and, in a plume of smoke, send us into darkness again. It wasn’t the birthday she […]
Fostering success
Sometimes the youngest kids can teach the biggest lessons
Over the course of the fall semester, places in the US underwent varying stages of lockdown in hopes of slowing the spread of coronavirus. My hometown had some of the most severe lockdown rules, with all nonessential businesses halted for an extended period of time. But for all the personal sacrifices and isolation, my family […]
My musical journey in Boston
How a fortuitous encounter started my musical career
An Instrumental Encounter “I am a musician.” I did not expect to hear those words during my lab rotation for the Health Science Technology program. I clearly remember the day. It was a chilly winter afternoon of 2018 at Lansdowne Street in Cambridge when I was introduced to a lab administrator, who showed me around […]
