Mahderekal Getachew Regassa

I’m an international student from Ethiopia and I decided to come all the way here and study in the US was because I couldn’t study what I’m passionate about in my home country. I've been curious about strange and unknowns of space (astronomy) ever since I can remember. Coming to Wellesley, I discovered that I’ve a few more things I’m passionate about exploring.

Early in my college career, I discovered the world of quantum mechanics through a Wellesley summer research program. I fell in love with it even though the subject matter makes me scratch my head in confusion every time I think about it. Up until the end of the summer when we were writing abstracts for the science center presentation, I didn't understand most of what we worked on. I felt bad because I didn’t understand how things we worked on that summer came together. I didn’t understand some of the fundamental physics principles we were using too, despite spending the entire summer working on it and reading about it. My advisors, Katie, James, and Robbie kept reminding me that it was part of the learning process and encouraged me to see how hard the topic itself is. Queue my first advise for students new to research, allow yourself to give yourself grace in the learning process and make mistakes. It really is the best way to learn and keep in mind you’re here to learn (not to earn a Nobel prize, yet lol).

After taking a detour for a while to explore other fields, I came back to doing research in my junior year. I now work in the Kavli Institute at MIT. My research is mostly coding and debugging/ discussing with the team in our lab. During those discussions, I mostly ask my advisor endless questions and that brings me to my next advice. Get comfortable with asking the ‘dumb questions.’ Despite the unreasonable expectations we Wellesley students sometimes burden ourselves with, we’re all here to learn and asking questions is the best way to do so.

What led me to explore so much is my curiosity and in deciding to follow my passions and I learned so much. My advice for you is also to explore and follow your curiosity. You'll meet likeminded people along the way and learn a lot about yourself and the world through the process. Be intentional with your time and the people you meet. You never know what you can learn from someone you meet and don't forget you're at Wellesley surrounded by some of the coolest people! When doing research, trust and be patient with the process (research takes time). If you find that the research you're doing isn't what you expected and you don't like it anymore, allow yourself to explore something else. The important thing with choosing research in my opinion, is your advisor. Factor that in when choosing between labs to work in and go with an advisor who cares about you and your learning. Lastly, as a Wellesley student it takes a lot to say this but, don't let perfectionism get in the way of your learning.