Culture Goes Beyond Your Lab
Appreciating the quirks and stories that makes MIT special
When I started grad school, I met the other graduate students in the lab – most of whom, unlike me, had not gone to MIT for undergrad. We had conversations about hobbies, research, families, etc. Nothing about meeting them seemed any different to me than meeting students during undergrad, but I slowly started noticing one […]
Fiddling through Grad School
My experiences learning the violin as a grad student
“Do you want to get lunch this weekend?” “Can we get dinner instead? I have a violin class in the afternoon.” You can do that as a grad student? Wow. As a first-year graduate student, I had not yet realized the degree of independence I now had in the choices I made in my life. […]
When It’s Hard to Talk
Cultivating meaningful relationships in graduate school despite social anxiety
I walk into a meeting with my advisor. I’ve met him before, but this is our first meeting since I joined his lab. He is a leader in the field, like most professors at MIT. I feel as though I need to make a good impression: come up with a brilliant idea or at least […]
Staying Sane
An insider’s view on underappreciated graduate struggles
Brainstorming the challenges of an upcoming graduate school? Let me help. Soon after grad school kicked off I started hearing complaints from my classmates about how insanely intense the workload and expectations are. I, too, started to feel a lot of pressure. Here I will share a few honest facts that, in my view, are […]
Are You Smart Enough to Be at MIT?
Attacking the smart versus non-smart cliché
The Letter: It is mid-April. You receive an email from the MIT graduate office congratulating you on your admission to MIT. You are overjoyed. You tell your family and friends about it. A few days pass by. The news sinks in, and a cloud of doubts appears as you browse through the MIT webpages, the […]
