phi adajar

applied microeconomist and phd candidate at mit interested in the economics of education and much more. on the 2026–27 job market!

One of the best parts of life is finding what brings you joy. And while I do get lots of joy out of economics and my research, I also get joy from many other things. Some may say too many.

They’re wrong, of course c:

Anyways, here’s a compilation of stuff I like, ranging from somewhat-serious to definitely-not-serious.

Dungeons & Dragons

Most things I do are incredibly on-brand, and so it’s honestly shocking that I only started playing D&D two years ago. I’ve got two PCs in different campaigns: Wella, a Steve Irwin-inspired druid who talks to dinosaurs and is still trying to learn how to trust people, and Myrna, a sorcerer trying to find the nature of magic and the secrets of the definitely-evil, very selective, and highly guarded wizard school (and no, she does not have any weird feelings about it because her two best friends got in and she didn’t and she hasn’t talked to them in years).1 Also watch a good amount of Critical Role (C2 🧡, though C4 has also been incredible) and Dimension 20 (Starstruck 🤩). I’ve dabbled in DMing, too — ran a mini-campaign for friends centered entirely around stinky cheese and a terrible, terrible sandwich pun. (Do ask for details!)

  1. Hey you, friends in my campaign. You’re not getting any secrets out of me here. Ask me in character, smh my head. ↩

Puzzle Hunts

I participate in Mystery Hunt (and many smaller hunts) with NES, a team composed of many former and current residents of Next House (my undergraduate dorm). I do hunts because it’s lovely to spend time with friends thinking about really hard things where you know that there is an answer if you just think hard enough. I’ve also written puzzles for Club Drosselmeyer, Cthulhu Luau, and a few other events; most recently, NES wrote the 2027 MITMH Pre-Hunt!

Theater

Over the last year, I’ve gotten into Boston’s interactive theater scene, with roles in Romancing Jan: Love & Labor (a Bridgerton-esque LARP), The Wedding Party (a wedding reception where absolutely nothing goes wrong), and Blood Hunt (a vampire-themed pub crawl). On the horizon is Carnevale di Oscurità (a circus set in 1907 with fantastical acts and mysteries to uncover) in February 2027. My first big show was Next Act 2023, Remembering Her by Alan Zhu where I played Kevin, a wholesome, slightly empty-headed, Prius-driving teen (shyeah!) who has somehow forgotten his girlfriend. My biggest role to date was Michael in a production of tick, tick… BOOM! with KAST, which was an absolute joy. Also love musicals — some select favorites are Operation Mincemeat, Hadestown, Waitress, and Maybe Happy Ending!

Crosswords

In 2022, I finally subscribed to NYT Games and began doing the crossword daily; have since solved far too many crosswords for my own good. Slowly working on bringing down my averages to competition level, and maybe one April I’ll take the train down to ACPT. My current streak’s been going since January 2022 January 2026 (a truly unfortunate mental lapse happened over the 2026 Mystery Hunt). And me being me, of course I’ve analyzed my data and put it into pretty graphs. Recently, I also wrote for the MIT Crossword Open!

Trivia

I’ve always wanted to make it onto Jeopardy. Now that I’m past college-age (and thus only eligible for regular Jeopardy), I’m slowly working on shoring up my literature and pop culture knowledge — or at least, that’s what I tell myself I’m doing. Slowly trying to get back into trivia through LearnedLeague, and one day I’ll actually put some time towards studying. Fingers crossed!

Baking

I think I’m becoming a baker?? Some favorite recipes include lemon squares and matcha cookies with white chocolate chips. Don’t ask me about the time I agreed to make croissants for someone not knowing what exactly making them entailed.

A Cappella

For the first two years of grad school, I was part of the MIT Centrifugues, a group that sings predominantly mashups and medleys. I sang baritone, learned how to arrange songs and beatbox, and was one of the Music Directors for a bit c: I hadn’t been a part of organized music since middle school, and have greatly enjoyed getting reacquainted with my musical side. My send-off solo (and favorite arrangement) was a mashup of Vienna and Landslide, which you can watch here :)

good things on the internet

rabbit holes I’ve been meaning to explore:

wholesome links:

random things i find useful:

fun games, both daily and one-time: