Blood, Sweat, and Tears
When a PhD gets personal
Some people choose their PhD projects based on raw scientific curiosity. Some seek buzz words, industry partners, or flashy technology to jumpstart profitable future careers. Some find their projects based on available funding. Me? I chose my project because it had almost killed me. Sepsis. Global killer of millions. Personal nemesis. And my research topic. […]
A Minor Change for A Major Reward
How playing guitar made my grad school life more enjoyable
I should start a new hobby. I came to this conclusion when my answer to the question, “research + sleep = 24 hours?” was “yes, but not always”. Although finding downtime can be difficult, especially when you are taking courses, it is a necessary part of staying sane and healthy in graduate school. To get […]
MIT in a Year
How to make the most of a brief MIT experience
Nine months. The length of a human pregnancy. Also the length of my time at MIT. To clarify, this is not a story about pregnancy. Ask most MIT graduate students how long they plan to be here, and two years is the minimum. Many will be here well beyond four as they pursue a PhD. […]
How to Pass a Harvard Class
What it’s like to be a cross-registered student
Shopping Day is like speed dating for courses at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Herds of students filter in and out of classrooms. Nervous chatter splinters out across the students until the professor sweeps in and quiets the crowd. There I sat in a room, staring people in the eye that I had seen […]
BYOB or… Bring Your Own Bowl
How we could all make our lunchtimes at MIT zero-waste
I don’t know about you, but I like to take a break at lunchtime. When, two years ago, I started my PhD, I used to walk everyday out of building 54 to go to the Stata Center cafe, Sebastians, or the irreplaceable Saté Grill food truck. I would put in my order, and in no […]
