The senior-year question
It doesn’t take long before that dreaded question pops up: “So, what are your plans after graduation?”
Mehran Kardar
I was born in Tehran, Iran and attended the same school for twelve years. Following undergraduate studies at Cambridge University (UK), I moved to Cambridge (US) for graduate studies at MIT in 1979.
Nuh Gedik
I am originally from Turkey. My lab uses ultrafast laser pulses to understand newly discovered materials such as high temperature superconductors.
Ahmed Ghoniem
I grew up in Egypt. After finishing my bachelor's and master’s degrees at Cairo University, I joined the University of California, Berkeley to do my PhD.
Leaving the MIT whirlwind
My first two years of college, I found myself getting caught up in a flurry of so many obligations and classes that I couldn’t even remember how many organizations I was a part of.
Azra Aksamija
I come from Sarajevo, Bosnia, a place historically known as the Jerusalem of Europe.
Stefanie Mueller
One of the great things about working in a research environment is that you are surrounded by so many people from different countries.
Srini Devadas
I grew up in various cities in India and arrived at the University of California, Berkeley for graduate school in 1985, weeks after turning 21.
Nikta Fakhri
I grew up in Tehran, Iran. After completing my undergraduate studies at Sharif University of Technology, I came to Rice University as a graduate student.
MIT's spiciest memelord
Before I got on Jeopardy, I’d catch it on TV, but it wasn’t really a big part of my life. I did quiz bowl in high school, and way back in the day I tried out for teen tournament, but I don’t really remember that at all.
Nasser Rabbat
I have spent more than half of my life at MIT. Having studied architecture in my native Damascus, Syria, I came to the U.S. to specialize in passive solar energy at UCLA in Los Angeles.
Mohammad Alizadeh
I am an Iranian immigrant. I came to the United States in 2006 for graduate school, accompanied by my wife and soulmate.
Campus Life editor's note
Every day we trudge through the Infinite. We pass peers, professors, and staff, all heading their separate ways. In Campus Life, we cross paths; we learn each other’s names and hear each other’s voices. This year, we heard resilience in struggle and grief in loss, courage under pressure and inspiration in hard work. We heard from our president, from a student EMT, from incredible people in hard places. Now, we return to their stories — we’ll catch a glimpse of their lives before they melt back into the crowd. This is you and me. This is MIT.
Inverse curling and Sunday tea
A group of my residents were huddled around a window on the 9th floor. With complete sincerity and transparency, one turned to me and said, “We froze a water balloon, and we think it’d be cool to throw it out the window!”
My best decision at MIT
Readjusting to the rhythm of academic life at MIT made me realize that a productive research agenda was not enough to carry me through my time here.
Paying it forward
You know the scene in The Sound of Music where Maria skips up to the gates of the Von Trapp Manor with two pieces of baggage and a song about beating imposter syndrome? That was figuratively me moving to MIT in 2015.
MIT: a personal Pandora’s box
I eagerly looked forward to my life at MIT, excited about the cultural discovery and surprises. These surprises started early.
Kyla Truman
My parents have struggled with substance abuse for as long as I can remember. My mom had me when she was 19. Both she and my dad tried to get clean for a little bit, but were largely unsuccessful.
The power of inspiration
I grew up in Caracas, Venezuela, the youngest of four brothers: Elias, Benjamin, Isaac, and me. When Elias was a baby, my parents fled from Eastern Europe in the late 1930s, just before World War II.
Meditation for mental health
The graduate student who recommended the course assured me it was a “totally different” experience than anything we’d done in the normal weekly classes. I was curious enough to give it a try.