I've defended and graduated!

Perhaps the most important lesson I've learned during my time at MIT is that progress in science (and in society!) is deeply collective. In today's world --- and especially in a hyper-competitive field like AI research --- it's easy to get sucked into comparison and self-doubt. Much of this, I think, comes from a misunderstanding of how scientific progress actually works: we tend to attribute oversized credit to a small number of figures. But certainly none of the work I've done, and none of the growth I've undergone, would have been possible without the support of my mentors, collaborators, and the insights of millions of brilliant scientists before me.

Along these lines, I am grateful to the amazing community around me who have supported my journey: most importantly, to my advisor @jacobandreas, the dozens of collaborators I've worked with during my PhD, my labmates, my mentees, and my co-organizers at @MITGradUnion --- all of whom have shown me, in various ways, what it means to work not out of comparison but out of love: for science, for the community around me, and for humanity.

I hope to carry forward these values wherever I go.