Life Update
Grad School Comes For Us All
It’s been a while since I wrote for this blog, mostly because I have been procrastinating on sharing some very exciting news. This fall, I’ll be starting a PhD program at Boston University, in the Faculty of Computing and Data Sciences!
I’ve already moved out of NYC. I’m visiting my sister in Pittsburgh now, then I’ll be back in NYC for HOPE, then visiting friends in New England, then back in NYC again to see the US Open. Then, finally, I’ll move into my apartment in Brighton on September 1st and start at BU on the 2nd.
How Did This Happen?
Last spring, I was trying to figure out where my career was headed and looked at a variety of other jobs, mostly software developer and PM jobs in a variety of industries. I applied to a bunch, but nothing was really working, which shouldn’t surprise anybody who’s looked for a job in the past few years, especially in tech.
Tufts’ computer science department plugged the CSGrad4US fellowship in their newsletter, which I miraculously happened to read that month. I was sure that I couldn’t get in, but figured that filling out the application would be a helpful thought exercise as I agonized over what to do with my life. I hadn’t thought much about grad school when I was in undergrad, but then again, my priorities were very different at that time… My three years of industry work taught me that there’s more to life – and work, for that matter – than work-life balance. Writing the essays for CSGrad, and thinking seriously for the first time about how I might fit into academia, made me realize that a career in academia might be good for me after all.
To my shock, and apparently nobody else’s, I got into the fellowship despite not having any research experience. Thus began a blitz of reading tons of research papers to figure out what specifically I wanted to focus on. As soon as I learned about usable privacy, I knew that that was exactly what I wanted to study.
My fellowship comes with three years of funding for my degree, and although the future of CSGrad’s funding is
uncertain, I would highly recommend the program even if it weren’t funded. So many smart, dedicated professors
in the
Now: New Career, New Home, New Website
I applied to lots of schools, met several amazing researchers, and ultimately chose to study with Allison McDonald at BU.
I’m sad to leave New York, a city I could have happily lived in for the rest of my life. Choosing a new domain name was a little tough, too, but I had to switch in case it gets difficult to renew calabrese.nyc. (In case you are wondering, “Low Shoulder” is a reference to the movie Jennifer’s Body.) I will miss my friends in the city, including my ex-girlfriend, with whom I mutually decided not to do long-distance after I moved away.
I’m also nervous about choosing academia during a particularly difficult time for academics in the US.
That said, I’m excited! I am excited for my new career. I’m excited to work with so many amazing, smart, dedicated researchers – several of whom I have met and many that I have not. I’m excited to have a job that’s a better fit for my strengths and more in line with my own intrinsic sources of motivation. I’m excited to reunite with my friends who live in Boston, including Matt, my old friend and new roommate.
I’m looking forward to this new chapter in my life. Special thanks to Spaf, Mark, Will, Dave, Jason, and Tanya, without whom I couldn’t have gotten into grad school. Shout-out to all of my NYC friends, whom I plan to visit often. Keep an eye out for me on arXiv or wherever you get your research. More updates, including a refreshed Intro post, coming soon to this site.