
From “Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything” to PhD life
My endless enchantment with Boston and Cambridge
Although this is my first year in the Boston/Cambridge area as a PhD student, I actually moved here back in 2021, when the pandemic was still in full swing. I reasoned that even if I didn’t get into MIT, I would like to fulfill a childhood dream of living here that I’ve had since about […]

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 […]

Med is dead
The Dead Sea, the Ocean that wasn't one
Mediterranean Gannet. Now, to anyone outside of the close-knit community of MIT Sloan, that phrase makes almost no sense. Gannets live nowhere near the Mediterranean! At Sloan, a regular conversation among new students goes as follows: What ocean are you? Oh! I’m Caribbean (or one of the 5 other “oceans”) What’s your bird group? Penguin! […]

The beauty of Boston’s bánh mìs
The magic behind these fantastic sandwiches–and where to find them
There’s no sandwich more beautiful than the humble bánh mì. Part of its beauty lies in the sandwich’s symphony of flavors and textures: savory, sour, sweet, spicy, umami, crunchy, soft, and tender, all at the same time. But another part comes from what the sandwich represents. Between the baguette buns hides a rich history and […]

The TA Chronicles: Being volunteered as tribute
Coming to terms with my TA assignment
There exists a poignant event in the career of all PhD students that truly tests their mettle… Come to think of it, there are actually many of these – but there’s one in particular that fills me with a little extra anxiety. I’m talking about none other than the dreaded teaching assistant (TA) assignment. Depending […]