Our graduating class answers questions on lab-life balance

 

Today, 37 CCB graduate students receive their graduate degree. They trained with twenty-one different faculty advisors and came to CCB from nine origin countries: Canada, China, Ireland, Korea, Romania, Colombia, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.

After they toss their caps—real or figurative, depending on whether they attend the ceremony or rush off to their new lives—our graduates will assume diverse positions across the world. Some continue on as postdoctoral scholars, but we also say goodbye (and good luck!) to a future data scientist, research software engineer, life science consultant, Vertex Fellow, and a start-up co-founder.

 

 

Before they go, the class shared a few memories, some advice, and their quirky habits for those who will take their place at the bench:

 

What is your favorite memory from your PhD years?

• Finishing a marathon
• Lab open house and poster making

 

What is the book (or books) you've given most as a gift, and why? Or, what are one to three books that have greatly influenced your life?

• What If? by Randall Munroe
• The Idea Factory (given most as a gift)
• One of my favorite books in 1984. I've always liked dystopias, and George Orwell's is arguably the best. Professionally, one of the books that has most influenced me is Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Kuhn's description of how experiments and theories get interpreted and evolve over time really resonates with me as a scientist. And because I have a cynical sense of humor, I've always loved Catch 22.
• When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

 

What purchase of $100 or less has most positively impacted your life in the last six months (or in recent memory)?

• Global Entry. It's worth it just for TSA Pre-Check
• Bike fenders and pannier
• An almost-new couch I got for $85
• A nice secondhand bicycle

 

How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success? Do you have a "favorite failure" of yours?

• Suffering (and then recovering from) a severe back injury taught me to be grateful for my physical health and to listen to my body when something is wrong.
• Many failures, all of them constructive.
• In my first few years of grad school, I pretty clearly went about my project the wrong way. In short, I was trying to solve a really challenging problem using a really challenging method. In my last two years, I continued to work on that same problem, but I focused on de-risking the approach. And the hard-earned failure will definitely serve me when I'm approaching future problems.
• My first and second year projects went nowhere. This was good in the end because it forced me to completely change course in my PhD and learn a new skill, machine learning. This is now essential to my research and career.

 

Harvard flags fly above the heads of students, family, faculty, and friends during the commencement ceremony

 

 

What is an unusual habit or an absurd thing that you love?

• Blasting the Hamilton soundtrack to pump myself up.
• I collect old science textbooks. My favorite is to find old chemistry books with only part of the periodic table filled in.
• Dragon boating! Everyone should try it.

 

In the last five years, what new belief, behavior, or habit has most improved your life?

• Learning to measure twice, cut once.
• Writing as I think.
• It was really liberating to realize that my weaknesses are not necessarily things I need to invest a ton of time to correct, but opportunities to partner with someone else who has complementary skills. And, relatedly, you can be much more effective when you're part of a team.
• Never limit yourself.
• Have a judgement free outlet for talking about your concerns. Whether that's through a good friend, a therapist, keeping a daily journal, etc. It really helps to air out the myriad issues that arise during the course of a PhD.

 

What advice would you give to a smart, driven college student about to enter the "real world"? What advice should they ignore?

• Do what excites you, and don't feel obligated to fit into the mold of what a traditionally successful person from your field/background looks like. Ignore people who say that you should do something just because it's the hot new thing.
• I think attitude is much more important than any specific skill set, because unless you went to vocational school, you're probably not qualified to do much beyond an intro-level job in the "real world." Be really honest with yourself about what you know and what you don't know, and don't be afraid to ask questions when you don't know something. Try to be resourceful, because people are much more willing to help you if you show that you're trying to help yourself. Be humble and gracious. And be assertive about respecting your own time, because that's nobody else's job.

 

 

What are bad recommendations you hear in your profession or area of expertise?

• That working longer hours makes you a better chemist. Though it's sometimes necessary, working 70-80+ hours a week consistently is inefficient at best and self-destructive at worst.
• "Graduate school sucks, but it sucks for everyone and you should just accept it." — I would be active in trying to make the experience better for yourself. Be involved in improving your environment. Have friends outside of graduate school. Above all, take care of your mental and physical health however you need to.

 

In the last five years, what have you become better at saying no to (distractions, invitations, etc.)? What new realizations and/or approaches helped? Any other tips?

• My advisor; saying that you're not interested or excited about a project/task/etc. is (or, at least, should be) a totally viable reason to say "no" to something.
• To more work.
• Just focus on what you need to do.
• This is a tough skill. I'm still learning how to do it!

 

When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, or have lost your focus temporarily, what do you do?

• I find one task that I have complete control over and focus on doing that one thing really well. I also always feel better after a good night's sleep.
• Go for a walk: along the Charles, around campus, in the Harvard Art Museum galleries.
• I start writing my thoughts. That helps going back to the line of thinking I want to focus on.
• Stand up, walk around, have a snack.
• Rethink the goal; make it clearer.
• Talk to someone you trust about what you're stuck on. It doesn't do any good to just ruminate on the issues by yourself.
• Listen to music or watch a movie.

 

If you could transform the vacant CCB attic into anything‚ what would it be?

• Greenhouse / meditation area.