An Open Letter to My Future Self
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…
Being Strong in Strong Situations
At my undergraduate institution (one of the three big U.S. military academies), every cadet was required to take a class called “The Behavioral Science of Leadership”. In this class we…
Unashamed to Be a Nerd
My friends at school weren’t really into Harry Potter. Many had watched the movies, and a few had read the books, but the magical world did not have the same…
Giving Back to Society
The ultimate aim of all the jobs the world has to offer in today’s time, whether in the field of entertainment, business or research, is to ultimately serve the human…
Biologists Need More Angle Grinders
I was very surprised one day to realize that I had developed a single callous on the pad of my right thumb. I can’t remember the last time I got…
Fated Friends
Walking into my MIT dorm for the first time, I itched to meet my peers. Although MIT students are known for being nerdy, I figured grad students (myself included) already…
Dildo.io, Where Did You Go?
Cambridge and the online dating landscape When I first arrived in Boston, I was teeming with curiosity and excitement. My thirst for scientific discovery and research was paralleled only by…
How to Craft a Personal Statement
There’s one part of any application that can always make you freeze: the dreaded personal statement. Writing about yourself is an exercise in embarrassment, anxiety, and existential doubt. Don’t worry;…
Are qualifying exams a waste of time?
How many times have you heard grad students express concern over qualifying exams or declare that they “survived” it? Qualifying exams (“quals”) can be a grueling process spanning anywhere between…
I didn’t spend any money for 1 month and this is what happened
I share my office with a pugnacious Australian graduate student, who delights in competition and regularly poses challenges to me. One afternoon, he provoked me with a contest to determine…
Have something to say or share? Then blog about it!
Hi MIT Grads! The MIT Graduate Admissions Blog is excited to announce its upcoming August workshop on blog writing. In brief, Attend a 2-day blogging workshop: August 26th and August 29th, 10am-12pm.…
MIT Time
I am perpetually late. No matter how much I look forward to an event, it seems physically impossible for me to arrive on time. This quality is something I have…
Dance Fitness in Boston
I entered graduate school as an awkward, uncoordinated person. I will leave it as a prima ballerina. Just kidding. But jokes aside, Boston has quite a few fun, unique dance…
Learning to Teach, Teaching to Learn
I love helping people learn. I first got a taste of this at the military academy where I completed my undergraduate degree. I taught new cadets and new Airmen about…
Comedy Lab
One year ago, my advisor, Prof. Charles Leiserson in CSAIL, arranged for our research group to take a stand-up comedy class with Dana Jay Bein, a local comedian with Improv…
Get out of the Lab and See the World!
Last September, I anxiously stood in front of my thesis committee, waiting for them to comment on my graduation timeline. To my surprise, not only did they say I could…
Learn to Swim
I was brought up in places far from lakes and rivers. The non-availability of swimming facilities in my high school and college led to my inability to learn to swim…
Girly
“Let us choose for ourselves our path in life, and let us try to strew that path with flowers.” – Emilie du Chatelet, Physicist I love dresses and bows, face masks…
Going Through a Breakup
I came back to Boston after a month of traveling to find out that my boyfriend and I had fallen out of love. After an ever-difficult conversation during a rainy…
Explain the MIT Undergrads to Me
As a newly arrived graduate student at MIT, you may have noticed that the undergrads are a bit… crazy. Don’t worry, I’m your local neighborhood undergrad-whisperer, and I’m here to…
Sailing Outside My Comfort Zone
It all started with an email: ‘Urgent: Help needed for a research cruise in the Arctic ocean. No prior experience required’. The message had been sent to my department’s mailing…
Carving Nature at Its Joints
Last January. A friend recommends a scientific paper. At this time I am a computer science student thinking of quitting computer science, because I live in California, and love computers…
A Structured Approach to Course Planning
Whether you attend MIT or another school, one of the things you may find challenging is planning the courses you will take over the entirety of your graduate career. As…
Practicing Good Hygge-ne
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…
On Rooftops in Cambridge and That Elusive Feeling of Hereness
A long time ago, I climbed a roof here. Though I should clarify and revise; this is, after all, an institute built on precision. Recently, a professor returned a response…
Finding My Grad School Home
When I arrived in the foreboding metropolis of Boston, I sought a group of friends that brings soup when someone is sick, welcomes each other into our homes even at…
An Ode to My Slow Cooker
The special appliance: my slow cooker I want to thank one special appliance Whose dedication and trusty alliance Have been a time saver for a busy grad mom. You…
Trains, Buses, and Feet
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…
Educating Myself Out of Education
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…
Advising Advice
At the end of my second year at MIT, I chose to switch to a different advisor, based on our overlapping interests in a specific research area. This turned out…
A Primer for Understanding ‘Merica
This blog is the continuation of my first blog where I wrote about my first few days in the USA. When I came to the USA from India to attend grad school,…
A Minor Change for A Major Reward
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…
Blood, Sweat, and Tears
Some people choose their PhD projects based on raw scientific curiosity. Some seek buzz words, industry partners, or flashy technology to jumpstart profitable future careers. Some find their projects based…
What the Puck?
In my first year of graduate school, I fell on my butt a lot. It’s as if I would forget about my feet. I would be gliding along smoothly, comfortably…
BYOB or… Bring Your Own Bowl
I don’t know about you, but I like to take a break at lunchtime. When, two years ago, I started my PhD, I used to walk everyday out of building…
