Defining the Challenges

When you’re struggling in a class, balancing too many commitments, or feeling anxious about your research, it’s important to know that you are not alone.

Filtered by

Balance

Managing time, energy, and competing priorities

Academic/Professional Performance

Overcoming setbacks and improving performance in classes and research

Balance

Managing time, energy, and competing priorities

Career/Paths

Finding a fulfilling academic or career path

COVID

Reflecting on the effects of a global pandemic on life as a student

Stress & Mental Health

Coping with mental health concerns beyond the typical stresses of student life

Transition to MIT

Adjusting to a new cultural and academic context

All Challenges

  • Read more: Kanika

    Managing Work Overload

    I had been kind of drifting in and out of sleep in my bed with a laptop and books and the light on and I hadn’t actually been going to bed or waking up. So, I didn’t really know when I was sleeping, or how many hours of sleep I was getting, or when I was waking up.

    Meet

    Kanika
    Graduate Student
  • Read more: Tim

    Managing an Overloaded Schedule

    I was just so tired, so disconnected. I felt like a machine. And it’s not a good way to go through life, in such a mechanical fashion.

    Meet

    Tim
    Undergraduate student
  • Read more: Teresa

    Reckoning with Burnout

    I knew that being a student at MIT was not supposed to be easy, especially given everything that I put on my plate. But what I was feeling seemed wildly out of proportion, completely different from what I thought of as normal college stresses.

    Meet

    Teresa
    Undergraduate student
  • Read more: Paige

    Sacrificing Self-Care

    I start freaking out because this is not how I pictured myself in that classroom. I pictured myself confident and respectable and presenting myself as someone who knows this material. And that was true. But I was very obviously not taking care of myself and my well-being.

    Meet

    Paige
    Undergraduate Student