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

Challenge Area

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

  • Read more: Melissa

    Choosing a Major

    When I switched majors, I knew deep down that I didn’t really want to pursue those long term…I always knew I did not like them; I just kept making myself do them because I thought this is what I am supposed to be doing.

    Meet

    Melissa
    Undergraduate Student
  • Read more: Samir

    Choosing a Path

    I was worried that I wasn’t giving my other passions… the opportunity to be something more…I did not want to find out thirty years from now that that’s what I should have been doing instead.

    Meet

    Samir
    Graduate Student
  • Read more: Siyoung

    Dealing with Anxiety

    My mind is not at all calm. And I am riddled with thoughts, and anxiety, and stress. And they extend into this very unhealthy thought spiral.

    Meet

    Siyoung
    Undergraduate student
  • Read more: Jennifer

    Defining a Dissertation Project

    I internalized the fact that I did not know what I was working on as an inadequacy of myself and not being good enough, smart enough to think of an idea.

    Meet

    Jennifer
    Graduate Student
  • Read more: Jessica

    Feeling Homesick

    My first month at MIT was an absolute nightmare. Everything that could possibly be different was different. […] I was struggling in my classes. I didn’t have any friends. […] I just wanted to go home.

    Meet

    Jessica
    Undergraduate student
  • Read more: Andy

    Feeling Stuck…A Bit

    Where do I live? Where do I work? Where should I be?

    Meet

    Andy
    Graduate Student
  • Read more: Delia

    Finding Her Passion

    Unfortunately, I did not have something that I was extremely passionate about, like many people I didn’t know what I loved and I thought that was fine, it would just take me some time to figure out the one thing that consumed me.

    Meet

    Delia
    Undergraduate Student
  • Read more: Maia

    Loop(s)

    Every day is kind of the same. The setup’s the same, the things you have to do are the same. It’s just over and over and over and over and over…And it’s a bit maddening after a while.

    Meet

    Maia
    Undergraduate Student
  • Read more: Vyshnavi

    Making Progress

    My smooth-sailing work life has been thrown into turbulent waters ever since the pandemic started. Or, to be more specific, ever since the work-from-home situation arose.

    Meet

    Vyshnavi
    Graduate Student
  • Read more : HJ

    Managing a Stressful Situation

    I start feeling like my faith in my ability to be resilient and let this roll off my back is also starting to show some cracks.

    Meet

    HJ
    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: 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: Evan

    Overcoming a Failed Research Project

    This is debatably the most important project I’ve had in my life so far and why is it coming to a total halt right now?

    Meet

    Evan
    Graduate Student
  • Read more: Annie

    Overcoming Language Barriers

    Before I came here, I took the English proficiency test…Each sentence in the lecture was exactly the same as I was taking that test.

    Meet

    Annie
    Undergraduate Student
  • Read more: Magdalena

    Overcoming Language Barriers

    I noticed that my level of English was one of the poorest. And that made me feel humiliated. Embarrassed. So instead of practicing in order to improve the level, I did the opposite. I hid.

    Meet

    Magdalena
    Graduate Student
  • Read more: Lulu

    Re-remembering

    I realized I really don’t know what I want to do. I just have so many random aspirations, why can’t I do it all?

    Meet

    Lulu
    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: Jonathon

    Reckoning with Depression

    This isn’t me because I am not depressed.

    Meet

    Jonathon
    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
  • Read more: Emily

    Sinking into Emptiness

    And it was this feeling of being suspended in nothing, just a complete absence of sound, and motivation, and realness that had struck me when I was sitting my bed. And I realized that this was something I needed to grapple with and I couldn’t just ignore anymore.

    Meet

    Emily
    Undergraduate student
  • Read more: Gerardo

    Struggling with Self-Doubt

    I kept on kind of questioning my ability to be here, my competencies.

    Meet

    Gerardo
    Graduate Student
  • Read more: Mary

    Struggling with Self-Doubt

    Facing the quals challenge really made me feel like I was not necessarily going to be competent enough to do it. I might not even be capable of doing it.

    Meet

    Mary
    Graduate Student
  • Read more: Neki

    Struggling with Self-Doubt

    If I quit now, there are stereotypes waiting to get confirmed, something like, what do you expect from a foster kid? So quitting was not an option.

    Meet

    Neki
    Visiting Graduate Student
  • Read more: Pradeep

    Struggling with Self-Doubt

    I was not able to identify an interesting problem to work on after so much effort. Like, am I even competent? Am I fit to do research if I’m not able to do this very simple task?

    Meet

    Pradeep
    Graduate Student
  • Read more: Daniel

    Taking a Medical Leave

    I decided to take some time off from MIT. I went home to my parents house and realized that I wanted to make some changes in my life.

    Meet

    Daniel
    Undergraduate Student
  • Read more: Katie

    Working on Class Performance

    I was left with the official lowest score in the class…I started questioning whether I should still be a neuroscientist, whether this was the path for me.

    Meet

    Katie
    Undergraduate Student
  • Read more: Jeba

    Working on Class Performance

    Even despite all the work I was putting in, I didn’t see any improvements in my grades.

    Meet

    Jeba
    Undergraduate Student