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 […]
Survive? No, let’s thrive
How I found balance at MIT
“You’re going to MIT? Pfft, have fun getting a social life – nobody has one there.” “I’ve heard that people only eat, sleep and work at MIT. Sometimes they have to choose two out of the three…” “Good luck surviving; you’re going to need it!” These were some of the responses I got when I […]
A guide to museums in Cambridge and Boston
My favorite museums near MIT
I come from a tropical country, which means that every December to March, I go to extraordinary lengths to minimize my outdoor time in an effort to escape the Boston cold. This city’s winters have led me to explore options for indoor activities, that also meet my other constraints: As a result, over the past […]
Relearning how to learn
Returning to school after years on a boat
As I sat down at my desk in the middle of the Pacific Ocean waiting for an Internet connection, I wondered if the long-awaited response would be sitting in my inbox. I kept hitting F5, hoping that the page would refresh faster. Internet on a naval vessel isn’t as instantaneous as the luxury Internet speeds […]
An ode to Kenji’s Cooking Show
How home cooking during the pandemic helped me gain a new mentor
At the start of the pandemic, my cooking skills were in top form. I had mastered scrambled eggs and had honed my selection criteria for one pot pastas (the simpler, the better). However, the pandemic and the subsequent shutdown revealed some gaping holes in my knowledge. I was suddenly home all the time, afraid of […]
