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.
On whale tails and Brexit
We were a group of young, forward-thinking individuals who celebrated diversity and learning, discussed enlightening topics over lunch, and had weekly lab meetings to hear presentations on the group’s research.
Lisa Lozano
In 2003, when I was in the third grade, my mom developed Guillain-Barre Syndrome and was paralyzed from the neck down. My grandpa also passed away around this time. My brother and I suddenly had many more responsibilities at home.
In the twilight zone
The “MIT bubble” is ubiquitous and yet sometimes invisible. Even Cambridge itself can seem like an enclave, the town of the ivory tower. Those of us who staff the MIT ambulance live in a sort of twilight zone, half in the bubble and half out.
I can see Russia from my lab
I spent my summer at the National Nuclear Research University MEPhI in the southern outskirts of Moscow, Russia. The Kremlin was just barely visible across Kolomenskoe Park on a clear day.
The illusion of experience
At this second barbecue, something that the host’s mother said stuck with me for the entirety of our trip. “My sister moved to Florida because it’s really dangerous here,” she had explained to us.
Marching to a different beat
My genes are over 99 percent identical to every other Homo Sapiens. I live in a progressive meditation community in Fairfield, Iowa, that is rich in eastern philosophy.
Growing up clueless
Although I was born in Louisiana, I grew up mostly in Texas. When I was growing up, my father was a “roughneck” in the West Texas oilfields. My dad only finished up to the 7th grade.
Biofuels and karaoke
Working and living in Brazil was an experience like none other. I learned so much about chemical engineering, biofuels, Brazil, and myself.
Listen to her
She was lying to me. She was telling me that everything was fine, but her body was saying something else. She was forcing herself to be brave, to fake the courage we are all supposed to have.
In through the back door
I remember hearing over the years how people felt once they got tenure. A sigh of relief, a feeling of recognition, the sense they had made it, that they were somehow now okay. I never felt that.
Virtual reality zombies in Berlin
The highlight of my summer was using the mobile EEG, which allowed me to take a glimpse into other people’s brains while they moved and interacted with space.
Too far to grieve
I had watched the scene unfold twice before. In the busy shuffle between classes and club meetings, the phone call comes. My friends learn that someone they loved has died, and by physical proximity, I am the first outsider to know.
Looking back and moving forward
The room lacked character. A single barred window, which overlooked the students’ courtyard, was the only thing interrupting the bare dominion of bleach white walls.