An Open Letter to My Future Self
Thoughts from my last first day of school
Dear future Ming, The date is August 26, 2019 – today is your/my/our first day at MIT. When you next read this after/if you graduate, it may well be the year 2025. How’s life at 27 treating you? In the year 2025, your younger brothers, currently high school freshmen, will be halfway done with college. […]
Practicing Good Hygge-ne
Self-care is so much more than making sure you’ve showered
It is hard to make time for all the things you want to do at MIT. There was one week my Google calendar had so many overlapping events, meetings and deadlines that it looked like a colorful mosaic worthy of the contemporary art section at the MFA. From 9AM to 11AM on Wednesday, I somehow had […]
Trains, Buses, and Feet
Seeing all of Boston on the way to class
On Tuesday mornings, I catch a 7:30 bus to get to an 8:30 class. This class is roughly 2.5 miles from my apartment. Why so far? Well, I’m a PhD student in the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology program, which focuses on integrating clinical experience into an engineering PhD. This involves taking M.D. classes through […]
Educating Myself Out of Education
I’m a fast climber, but why should it matter?
I’m not going to lie to you, I don’t always tell the truth. When people ask me about MIT, I tend to oversell it. After all, it is one of the best, if not the best, university on the planet, nestled at the top of all international rankings. Once up here, everyone simply expects you to be […]
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 […]
