Auspicious Boston Snow
Celebrating the successes of my labmates in the new year
As an old Chinese saying goes, “A timely snow promises a good harvest.” In China, it is thought, snow at the New Year always brings some good luck. In early January, I found myself thinking, what kind of good luck might a really heavy Boston snow (“near blizzard conditions,” according to The National Weather Service) […]
Defense of the Ancients
An alternative get away
After losing an 82 minute Dota2 match, maybe it is time for me to step back and write a brief, informative post about competitive video gaming and how it helps to relax. Wait, what is Dota2 – other than being the sequel or re-creation of the Defense of the Ancients (DotA)? For non-gamers: Dota2 consists […]
Drawing the Lines of Work-Life Balance
How my time-management skills are crucial to my productivity, and more importantly, to my happiness
Most mornings, I don’t set an alarm. As a student in cognitive science, when I’m not working with participants, almost all of my work is done on the computer and can be done from anywhere at any time. This is both a blessing and a curse, but it translates to the fact that I am […]
PhD and a Baby
Debugging code and changing diapers
I wasn’t married when I got to MIT, but I had a boyfriend named Randy who moved up to Boston with me. Two years in, we discover that it is, in fact, possible to simultaneously plan a wedding and write a master’s thesis! Two years after that? I’m sitting uncomfortably in a floppy hospital gown […]
To stay in academia or not, that is the question
Weighing the costs versus the benefits of pursuing an academic career
Should I stay in academia or not after I graduate? It’s a question that most PhD students find themselves asking at some point in their graduate careers. Some have unequivocal answers from the beginning, while others struggle with the decision even towards the end of their studies. Some just don’t want to think about it […]
