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Welcome to CollegeSista!
CollegeSista is a platform providing advice about applying to, matriculating to, and thriving in graduate school. As a computer scientist, interdisciplinary researcher, avid traveler, voracious reader and blogger, I’m looking forward to sharing my insights in this digital space I’ve curated! CollegeSista is a place where underrepresented students can find inspiration from a current PhD student and learn more about life as an academic in this place called the “Ivory Tower”.

Saturday, December 11, 2021

Get Ready for Graduate Application Season

 Hey everyone, welcome back to my blog! This is my first post of the year and I’m happy to start with a post on grad school. Grad school application season is in full swing and after what I’m sure has been a rough year for many, a lot of people are looking to advance their studies by going to graduate school. Fortunately, many programs are opening back up after admission hiatuses and as vaccination rates increase, campuses are slowly but surely getting back to “normal” but it surely looks different from before the pandemic began.






Check out all my old posts pertaining to my graduate school application process and journey:



For those of you in Computer Science and related fields (Information Science, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Operations Research, etc.) I update GitHub lists with curated links to graduate applicant support programs and graduate fellowships. These lists are loaded with tons of resources to help you apply to graduate school and fellowship programs. Feel free to check them out and share!


In my next post, I’m looking forward to updating you all on how the past year has been for me and things I’m looking forward to as we go into Winter Break. It’s so great to be back!





Thanks for reading! You can catch up on my previous posts here. Feel free to share this post and follow me on all social media platforms @CollegeSista! Have questions about applying to grad school, life as a graduate student, or Cornell in particular? Feel free to contact me on LinkedIn or through email!


Monday, October 5, 2020

It's been an interesting summer...

Now that Fall is officially here (along with this chilly Ithaca weather...the leaves are beautiful though!), I figured that I’d do a brief update on what I’ve been up to since the summer! As with many graduate students, my plans for the summer changed drastically and I had to adapt quickly to the circumstances. While I was looking forward to traveling a bit and pursuing a research study in India, I’m grateful that I have the privilege to conduct my research from almost anywhere in the world and didn’t experience any major setbacks. I’m extremely proud of the work I completed this summer and am looking forward to pushing towards candidacy by mid-2021 (fingers crossed)!


Photo by Taryn Elliott on Pexels.com

  • I’ve become much more consistent in working out! With the help of a couple of fitness apps, I’ve settled into a routine consisting of a run/vigorous walk followed by a ~30 minute HIIT/cross-training workout. I feel so much better, especially after getting some fresh air outside, and am enjoying the bit of body tone I’ve gotten back. Hoping that I can keep this consistency throughout the long Ithaca winter! 
  • Did a slight rebrand for CollegeSista! The power of Canva is so understated, I feel like a professional designer at times. I really love the collegial look of my logo, which falls more in line with the theme of my blog.
  • I spent the majority of my summer working on a research study to learn more about perceptions of artificial intelligence (AI) in India. I also submitted this project to a major conference in one of my fields and am really excited to share this work! I’m so pleased to be at a place in my research where I’m content and truly passionate about what I’m doing.
  • I deeply enjoy speaking and honing my presenting skills and being in quarantine has definitely given me a lot of options to do so! I presented at a couple of workshops and conferences and enjoyed sharing my work with others from around the world. 
  • I completed two certificates in Women’s Entrepreneurship and Venture Deals! I have so many passions outside of academia and being able to pursue them (to a certain extent) has made me more balanced throughout my studies.

Honestly, it’s been hard making time to write for CollegeSista and I really miss it! Writing for this blog is a way for me to express my non-academic thoughts, and it’s therapeutic in a way. Throughout this quarantine period, I’ve been going through a wave of emotions which has resulted in varying peaks and valleys of productivity. I’ve been reading for pleasure less, procrastinating a bit more on my work, and have found myself going to bed at extremely strange times. I believe in the potential of CollegeSista and am going to be more intentional in building that potential. I’m eager to share my insights and hope that you’ll stick around for the journey!


Note: As graduate students, it can be hard managing our time with all the stuff we have to do ranging from conference deadlines to course readings and to research. The 2020 election is coming up soon, so please ensure that you’re registered to vote




Thanks for reading! You can catch up on my previous posts here. Feel free to share this post and follow me on all social media platforms @CollegeSista! Have questions about applying to grad school, life as a graduate student, or Cornell in particular? You’re welcome to contact me on LinkedIn or through email


Wednesday, June 10, 2020

#BlackLivesMatter

#BlackLivesMatter each and every day. For so long, Black people in the United States and throughout the rest of the world have been the brunt of policies and systems designed to negatively impact us through financial, political, and social means. This is systemic and change has been due, but has not come fast enough. I’m extremely proud of those stepping up and out by protesting, donating their time and money, and organizing within their respective communities. Slowly, but surely, we will make a change!


Credit: Jane Mount




Over the past month, the weight of this movement has weighed heavily on my mind. I’ve been extremely active on social media and within my department working to enact change and speak up about the injustices Black people face throughout our daily lives. For this blog post, I’ve compiled a list of resources both in and out of academia to help you support social movements and educate yourself on the history of structural racism and anti-Blackness in the United States.

Please take the time to go through these resources and visit any of them that may be useful to you!



You can’t play ignorance, justified by feeling uncomfortable, when Black people have been made to feel uncomfortable their entire lives in a white privileged, systematically racist and unfair society that is more than happy to benefit from Black culture, but isn’t so happy in adhering to the ideals of equality and basic human rights.

Jade Thirwall


Cornell Resources

These resources are specific to Cornell, but they may be helpful to all graduate students irrespective of your institution.


Academic Efforts and Resources

Resources for those looking to engage and learn more through an academic context. A big thank you to the #ShutdownAcademia movement for compiling a lot of these resources.


Academic/Professional Organizations and Initiatives


Political and Legal Resources

For those interested in writing to legislators and participating in protesting efforts.


Petitions

Petitions are important ways to make your voice heard and lend support to the creation of policies.



Fundraising Efforts

Funds to support recent victims and protests throughout the country.


Organizations

Learn more about organizations fighting for inequality and support them!


Podcasts




Thanks for reading! You can catch up on my previous posts here. Feel free to share this post and follow me on all social media platforms @CollegeSista! Have questions about applying to grad school, life as a graduate student, or Cornell in particular? You’re welcome to contact me on LinkedIn or through email!






Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Book Review: It's About Damn Time


I had the pleasure of receiving an early copy of It’s About Damn Time: How to Turn Being Underestimated Into Your Greatest Advantage, the debut book by Arlan Hamilton. If you don’t know who Arlan Hamilton is, she’s a world renowned venture capitalist and the founder of Backstage Capital, a venture firm that has already invested in over 100 companies dedicated to supporting underrepresented underestimated founders. I’ve been following Arlan’s work for a couple of years now and believe that she is the real deal. Reading and listening to her story of sleeping in SFO to now traveling around the world (before COVID-19 hit, of course) keynoting conferences, leading panels, and raising millions for her fund, has made her a huge inspiration to me and plenty of others!






One thing that stood out to me about It’s About Damn Time was how clearly Arlan’s voice shines through the pages. I’ve watched multiple videos of talks Arlan has given and have listened to nearly all of the podcasts she’s spoken on (check out her podcast, Your First Million). Reading this book felt like I was in those rooms listening to her conversations and at times felt like it was 1-on-1! This is the first time I have ever done a book review and I am eager to discuss the main insights I received from the book and how Arlan’s story resonates beyond the world of venture capital and directly to grad students. Let’s get it started!



Arlan had so many gems throughout her book, so it was a bit tough to choose the most memorable ones! Here are three quotes that stuck out to me the most and have made me reflect more deeply about my journey in academia:


Quote 1


Chase what inspires, invigorates, and refuels you. If you do that, success will find you. It will chase you in return.

 

In grad school, it can be easy to fall into the “trap” of being stuck in a research project or field you’re not passionate about. During my first year, I found myself in a situation where I was content with my research but I wasn’t fully passionate about it. I came to realize that this wasn’t what I wanted to do and took time to find what really inspires me. Since this shift in my research goals, I’ve found myself to be invigorated by all of the possibilities that my research holds for me and definitely feel “refueled”. I’m involved in a variety of research projects that I know will be successful and am eager to expand my domain expertise even further.


Quote 2


I will not shrink myself to make someone else more comfortable. I deserve to be in the room.


This quote reminded me of impostor syndrome, something that many grad students struggle with. Feelings of impostor syndrome are exacerbated even further by other factors such as being from an underrepresented group, experiencing microaggressions, and self-doubt. As the only Black woman or even the only Black person in many spaces I occupy, I do find myself “shrinking” at times. I’ve learned that not only does this make me even more uncomfortable, it heightens my sense of feeling like an “impostor”. It’s a tough journey to navigate, but I find that being in affirming spaces is one way I’ve been able to combat this.


Quote 3


When you expand people’s perception of what is possible, you enable them to think bolder, dream bigger, and achieve more.


I believe that part of my responsibility as a grad student and as a Black, Nigerian-American woman pursuing a PhD is to inspire the next generation of underrepresented students in computing and related fields. I know that my presence and the space I take up enables younger students to do exactly what Arlan said: “think bolder, dream bigger, and achieve more”. I spend a lot of my time mentoring students and have benefited from mentors and older graduate students who took the time to do the same for me. It’s only right that I pass it on!




I hope this review was helpful to you and maybe even persuaded you to learn more about Arlan Hamilton and her amazing journey! You can buy It’s About Damn Time directly from Penguin Random House or through other retailers such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble.



Thanks for reading! You can catch up on my previous posts here. Feel free to share this post and follow me on all social media platforms @CollegeSista! Have questions about applying to grad school, life as a graduate student, or Cornell in particular? You’re welcome to contact me on LinkedIn or through email!


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