Terraforming friendship
How friendship started to flourish after a game of Terraforming Mars
My friend recently flew back to visit his grad school friends. All of us used to do many things together. Since he was back, we decided to play a game we enjoyed — Terraforming Mars. The game took place on a very special Sunday in Boston: it was 70 degrees Fahrenheit — in January. His […]
Dungeons and biology
A tale of biologists, some dice, and keeping each other sane
Every other Sunday, six biologists gather around my apartment’s dining table. The meeting starts out normally enough, each of us giving one science and one non-science update about our lives since we last met. We recap our previous meeting. What happens next is less normal. I begin narrating: “The barroom is dimly lit, and rain […]
Networking for introverts
How to break out of your shell
Editor’s Note: This post was written and submitted to us before the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States, but we believe that the advice given here is still highly relevant in the time of quarantine – when both group and one-on-one meetings are as important as ever. Networking. For some of us introverts out there, […]
Away, with a slice of MIT
My experience with MISTI GSL
It’s no secret that MIT celebrates differences and diversity. Different interests, backgrounds, working styles, expertise, ambitions, perspectives, voices … the list is endless. As an outsider, before I joined MIT, I was amazed and attracted to this deeply interwoven fabric of differences. But MIT is also a place of contradictions. As an insider, i.e. after […]
Fitting into MIT
How imposter syndrome gave me a sense of belonging
When I got my acceptance email from MIT, I actually cried. My childhood dream was coming true, and my emotions were a whirlwind of excitement and disbelief. In a fit of excitement, I called my mom and somehow managed to string together words to convey the good news to her. At the end of the […]
