Blog

Times may have changed, but MIT will not

Times may have changed, but MIT will not

Looking Back at International IAP Adventures

July 30, 2020 | Olivia Y.

My first year at MIT was filled with opportunities, more than I was able to take advantage of. In just one walk down the Infinite corridor, I could pick out a dozen flyers that piqued my interest. I deliberately slowed down, knowing that I had four to five more years to explore all that MIT […]

Continued community in the era of social distancing

Continued community in the era of social distancing

Rainbows among the storm clouds

April 13, 2020 | Olivia Y.

Coronavirus has drastically changed our daily lives as MIT students. In the span of a week, we have gone from attending regularly scheduled classes and happily discussing spring break plans to an almost vacant campus. My heart goes out in sadness to the senior undergraduate students who never got the joys of senior spring that […]

How to cordially interrogate graduate students

How to cordially interrogate graduate students

The art of finding a lab

March 3, 2020 | Olivia Y.

This semester, I have had a ton of practice interrogating graduate students. During orientation, I was immediately given the task of rotating in various labs to find my lab home. Our advisors instructed us to reach out to professors who caught our interest, find out if they are looking for PhD students this semester, and […]

The Paradox of Choice:

The Paradox of Choice:

Too many flavors at the ice cream store

November 7, 2019 | Olivia Y.

I am a brand-new Ph.D. student and I have already figured out my least favorite part about MIT: the overwhelming number of choices. As I am enrolled as a student in the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology Medical Engineering Ph.D. program, the situation is even more intense. I can take classes at both Harvard Medical […]

Starting Graduate School on the Right Foot

Starting Graduate School on the Right Foot

A PhD student’s guide to running in Boston

October 15, 2019 | Olivia Y.

On the snowy February morning before my MIT graduate school interview, I rolled out of bed, bundled up and went for a run along the Charles River path. As a former Division One cross country and track athlete, I have been running almost daily for almost a decade. The picturesque scene of a light snow […]