Artsy at thirty
I do, thus I become.
When I turned 30 on August 6th, I had a feeling that this is my decade. I don’t know why, but I was quite excited, unlike many who might feel daunted by this age milestone. I, however, had a feeling that this is THE decade; the one in which I will discover myself and figure […]
Do it now. Seek help now.
Finding treatment for mental illness can be challenging. Don’t wait for things to get really bad. Seek treatment on a good day.
Mental illness is not unfamiliar to many MIT graduate students. People as smart as typical MIT students, when placed under that much pressure, are bound to have it. Look beyond three feet in front of you, and you’ll find evidence of it: that friend you haven’t seen in two weeks, long lines at MIT Mental […]
Give me a break!
My journey of deferring my admission to MIT… and how I rediscovered my sense of self
“Congratulations! We are pleased to offer you admission to the Graduate Program of the Department of Biology at MIT,” was probably one of the most awesome starts to an email ever. Yet I felt a tinge of sourness as I relished in the excitement of being accepted to MIT, given that it was April 2020 and […]
Color my life with the chaos of trouble
How to persevere after research leaves you with a literal headache in the desert
Cracking open the trailer door and peeking out, I checked to see if the storm had subsided. Who knew it could rain so much in the desert? Water had begun overflowing the tanks and spilling onto the testing pad. Impatiently, I yelled to the other engineers, “I’m going to try and disconnect the hoses!” With […]
Flying far from the hive
How cultural differences between fields expand mindsets and methodologies
I’ve always enjoyed collaborating with people. You have fun, you make friends, and in the case of academic collaboration, it opens the door to addressing questions from diverse perspectives. When I first came to grad school, I wandered halls and labs looking for something interesting to do, and a great opportunity came after talking with […]
