Questions?
The feedback loop in your own mind is the greatest way to sharpen your questions.
Do I have friends?
Any sentence that starts with “I just don’t feel…” is a self-fulfilling prophecy
On Friend “Groups”
some context: in high school i was extremely antisocial, but i’ve honestly realized a lot of it was self-imposed in some way or another. i am trying to change that in college, and i genuinely have! i’m a freshman, and this year i’ve made more friends here than during all of high school. i feel more confident and outgoing, which i think has also done numbers for my mental health — i love that i am able to talk to people now.
Dealing with neighbors and crushes
Someone above (or beside?) me keeps making loud noises. Sounds like moving furniture. I gave the person I thought was above me chair pads but it hasn't changed anything.
Crushing on my friend’s ex
Auntie's Family addresses the perennial question of when budding romance clashes with existing friendships.
On Freshman Fall: Fears and the Firehose
Auntie Matter provides advice to a freshman facing the fall firehose.
The Matter Family is Back!
For those of you who are wondering where Auntie Matter went, she’s doing great. She graduated in 2019, dabbled a bit in 2023, but has been disappointed that none of you ever volunteered to pick up where she left off... Anyways, after scrolling through last semester’s MIT Confessions, she started to get worried.
Stressed-out senior
Just take a first step in a direction that seems right for you at this moment in time. Things will change, and that’s alright.
Party food and relationships
Be yourself and focus on doing what you enjoy, and things will follow.
Boredom blues
You can learn a lot from an experience even if it’s not the most ideal. Be curious and be open to possibilities.
Auntie says farewell
Auntie invites would-be advice-givers to hang up their own shingle next year and start giving advice. To ready the path for the next generation, she will offer some reflections on the principles by which she has written this column.
Plague and despair
There are lots of ways to be a student here. It seems unlikely all of them would make you miserable.
What to expect when you’re expecting… to come to MIT
The opportunity to really follow your passions without too much to lose — that is a tremendous privilege, a freedom that few human beings in history have had. Do not waste it by following along with what everyone else wants just because everyone else wants it.
Talk, talk, talk
You can change your friends, but you should also probably change your thinking.
A dropped class and a dry spell
My girlfriend says she loves me, but hasn't wanted to have sex the past two months.
Faltering friendships and careless classmates
Don’t think so much. Enjoy yourself. It’s OK.
‘How do I stop myself from feeling like this?’
Auntie Matter advises a student going through a self-described “midlife crisis.”
For the lonely and lovelorn this Valentine’s Day
A wise MIT professor once told Auntie that the hardest part of human life is finding love. With that in mind, Auntie presents Valentine’s Day selections about finding, and navigating, love.
All about Auntie
This week, in lieu of actual questions, Auntie Matter narcissistically decided to invent and answer questions about herself.
Advising the advisor
Instead of telling your students not to work a specific kind of job, encourage them to be a specific kind of person — one who is awake in the world.
Inner circle and inner peace
Take pride in your behavior. It is genuinely impressive to bear a difficult circumstance with grace.
Alphabetical advice
Even if you reexamine the situation and conclude you made some mistakes, what’s done is done, and Auntie believes you should try to forget about it.
Ready for it?
How do you know if it was a date without asking? (You don’t.) And should you apply to software engineering internships? (Only if you want to do software engineering.)
September problems
The main reason Auntie suggests you pursue this man, however, is that she hopes you will fall passionately in love.
Friendship formation fears
Though wanting the good things is painful, it is still preferable to not knowing what the good things are.
Concerning your confessions
This week, in response to MIT Summer Confessions posts, Auntie will give yet more unsolicited advice. Remember, folks, even your (technologically incompetent) aunt can read a public page!
In the heat of the moment
Don’t wait too long for the perfect moment. There won’t be one.
Prefrosh? Read this!
In the midst of all the liquid nitrogen ice cream, puzzle hunts, and lock-picking, you should make sure to take time for self-reflection.
Tick tock, tick tock
Once you’ve started procrastinating, don’t feel as though you must keep procrastinating. You are not simply either a procrastinating fool or a productivity fiend.
Queerness and quick queries
There is much mythology surrounding the female orgasm.
Not in love with this
To quote Rilke, “If your daily life seems poor, do not blame it; blame yourself that you are not poet enough to call forth its riches.”
Slippery and confused
If you have questions for Auntie Matter, please submit them at tinyurl.com/AskAuntieMatter.
The STEM of the problem
We are surrounded by so many people who are so clever at math and who value math skills highly that it's completely understandable to feel insecure.
Sleeping around
The Tech's Auntie Matter provides sage advice on matters related to all things sleeping.