We are three Neuroscience PhD students who want to drop some real talk about the grad school life.

Jen Ding: Likes immersive theater and serialized podcasts. Equal opportunity dog and cat person. Anxious mother of 1 air plant. Currently a fifth-year grad student in UChicago’s Neurobiology department.

Norbert Cruz: His favorite lack of color is black. Funny that as a kid he was afraid of the dark. So he decided to overcome his fear by becoming a black belt. Not really. But he does have a black belt in Taekwondo. He can seriously kick ass… in Super Street Fighter II Turbo that is. Currently a fifth-year grad student at the Princeton Neuroscience Institute.

Rolando Masís-Obando: Wants to live life like a collage. Finds horror movies funny –but, some theorize he’s just scared and laughs as a self-defense mechanism. Currently a fifth-year grad student at the Princeton Neuroscience Institute.