How my journey to the Philippines brought me to MIT
…and connected me with an incredible mentor
During the summer of 2019, my mom and I visited the Philippines for our first-time to meet relatives and learn more about our heritage. To see as much of the country as possible and to meet as many people as possible, my family rented a van for a two-week road trip. I met a LOT […]
3 things I did as an international graduate student this summer
And three that I wish I had devoted more time to.
When I was accepted to the Master of Science (M.S). in Comparative Media Studies last summer, I had very specific goals of how I wanted to spend the next two years of my life in Boston: conducting ethnographic research, volunteering in several organizations, networking, and learning how to sail during the summer on the Charles […]
Innovation and the daily grind
How admission into MIT Sloan Fellow MBA transformed my way of thinking about careers, entrepreneurship and innovation
A life with daily grinds Over the last ten years, I remember working long hours on mergers and acquisitions (M&A), project finance deals, and operational issues without even realizing when the sun set. And then COVID struck! Suddenly, I had nothing to work on and nowhere to go. Somewhere inside me, I knew that I […]
Whales of quals
Prioritizing my mental health over qualifying exams
This is my story of how I prioritized my mental health over qualifying exams. When I was studying for quals1, my phone kept autocorrecting quals to whales. I thought it was funny and poetic, because the stress of quals felt like a whale on me. Before reading this, I want to mention that what you […]
A graduate school simulator
How playing Stardew Valley prepared me to move to MIT
Stardew Valley, the hit indie farm simulator, consumed much of my senior spring. While writing my thesis and finishing my coursework, I needed an opportunity to relax and focus on ANYTHING other than my mounting deadlines. The game, playable across multiple consoles, is a staple recommendation of the “cozy game” genre, occupying a similar niche […]
