Ever since college, most of my writing has been scientific and objective. Classes penalized long ramblings and research papers needed to fit within a page limit, and so, my thoughts became more and more concise and efficient. Then with the arrival of ChatGPT and all the other LLMs, I’ve found that my writing muscle has severely atrophied. So, I’ve decided to start intermittently blogging my thoughts, partly as a form of mental exercise and partly to prove to myself that I can still convey my thoughts at a satisfactory level.

Doing a PhD means being in school. Taking classes. TAing for classes. Reading papers. Working on projects. These are all things I’m used to doing as someone that just recently graduated undergrad. But a key difference is that as an undergrad, the only thing I was expected to prioritize was … being good at school. Everything else was planned and thought out for me. Exercise? The gym is right next to the lab. Food? Trudge to one of the (6 MIT dining halls)[https://studentlife.mit.edu/dining/dining-locations/] and you’ll definitely find something edible. Life was easy back then, the only struggle I had was figuring out how to pass (6.046)[https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/6-046j-design-and-analysis-of-algorithms-spring-2015/]. That is no longer the case now and it seems like it will never be the case again. Never again will life be THAT easy and so I’ve discovered that while general school things seem to have gotten easier… so many other miscellaneous items require my attention now.

Now that September is creeping closer and closer, I’ve made the upsetting realization that I can no longer call myself a first-year PhD. When classes start tomorrow, I’ll officially be embarking on my second year of graduate studies. I have encountered few other thoughts in my life as upsetting as this one, but as a coping mechanism, I’ve decided to write down a collection of things I’ve learned in my first year.

Just Ask!

I have always tried to err on the side of audacity, but being audacious can be hard when you are me and also awkward. I’ve learned that some academics, in the act of boosting their own ego, will put you down for not knowing things they deem “fundamental”. But these individuals are few and far between. It is okay to be stupid but it i

Time is of the essence

1. Details about third item

Make time… for the ones that matter

Ki

It’s okay to be a little lonely sometimes

Always give back!