In my opinion, the most important trait for success is self-awareness. You should know the answer to these questions about yourself: What do you care about? What are you optimizing for? What are you willing to sacrifice? “Know yourself” is often phrased differently (“know your why”, “find your purpose”, etc.)…

Dear readers, Jessie’s Journey is 1 today! 🎉 I find it hard to believe that it’s been one year since I formalized my writing and started sharing it publicly. Fun fact: As someone who loves numbers, I have never thought of myself as a writer and I still don’t; I…

Dear Professor Winston, I hope heaven is treating you well. Three years ago, I walked into 10–250 as a bright eyed junior after recovering from the blows that freshman and sophomore year had dealt me. I had transitioned over to the UPPERclassman half of my college career and was hopeful…

Dearly beloved, There are mentors, and there are MENTORS. Four years ago, God blessed me with an amazing mother, sister, friend, confidante, cheerleader, coach, and MENTOR through MIT OME’s EMAP program. She has been a colossal blessing to me in ways that words cannot describe. …

This summer, I had the privilege of meeting and working with my research heroes! They not only exceeded my expectations of them to be deep thinkers and creative problem solvers, but also showed a deep level of commitment to nurturing my growth as a researcher and my development as a…

On the day that I matriculated at MIT, I weighed 140 lbs. On the day that I graduated from MIT, I weighed 212 lbs. I’ve always been on the bigger side, but I gained so much weight by stress eating my way through college. Whenever I pulled an all-nighter, I…