Alum of the Week: Eliza Khokhar

By Ellie Ana Sperantsas, Clark Wu, Andrew Yuan

The smell of fresh pancakes and farmer’s market maple syrup on her adviser Mr. Eric Janicki’s portable electric cooker was Eliza Kohkhar’s ’17 much deserved break from her boarding school life every Wednesday.

Kohkhar, an incoming Investment Banking Analyst at Goldman Sachs, graduated last year from MIT with a BS in Computer Science, Economics, and Data Science from MIT. But if you had asked her years ago at Exeter, a younger Kohkhar would never believe you.

To Kohkhar, memories at the Academy were simultaneously “really clear and a blue.” “On this one really snowy night, a bunch of my friends and I watched Mean Girls in the Amen common room. At some point we all went outside and chased each other around with no apparent reason, as preps do,” Kohkhar recalled. “I think someone lost their phone in the snow and everything was just chaotic. Chaotic and fun.”

Kohkhar regretted not spending enough time with her communities. “Try to hang out with more of your friends. Have more fun. You’re not really going to remember a Friday night where you finish your homework and study for an AP. You’ll probably do fine on the test anyway,” she said. “I mean, what’s the point of having the perfect academic records if you’re not enjoying them?”

Coming out of Exeter, Kohkar found the social aspect of MIT at a stark contrast with Exeter. “I think transitioning to a college environment was the first time I had to think of texting friends [to make] plans, so it's just really easy to feel isolated when you can thrive on campus.” Kohkar said.

“People say ‘try out like the clubs,’ but a lot of clubs at college are really intense. So you have to find some fun. I remember recruiting for a bunch of clubs and that was very stressful. And now that was part of what made me committed to them.”

Unlike her dedication to math, Kohkhar’s interest in economics was newfound after arriving at MIT. “I was the math kid at Exeter,” Kokhar said. “I joined the Math Club, I’m a proud 31X dropout… but I didn’t want a job for technical work. I wanted to appreciate the analytics and look at how technologies and societies interact.”

“I think a lot of STEM is obviously very numerical. People think STEM is straightforward, like you could do the math and you answer the questions,” she said. “The good thing about Exeter Harkness and learning about humanities is that you realize the scientific way and the scientific method is not everything. Economics is a symbol for that.”

“When you do cost-benefit analysis, you’re very subjective and people think ‘Oh, you put a value on human life,’” Kohkhar said. “But when officials decide to implement policies that cost X amount over another policy that could potentially save people, you’re implicitly assigning value.”

“In defense of economics, it’s important to know how society assigns value to our lives so that we can make educated decisions. It’s also important to figure out a person’s stories,” Kokhar said. “When you analyze, maybe you’re not putting enough value unto marginalized communities or you’re not thinking about people’s stories. It’s impossible to fully internalize what others are feeling when you’re doing this type of analysis. Exeter made me more compassionate and more appreciative of economics - it’s a way to build full and real stories.”

One of Kohkhar’s favorite experiences working with economics and real-world applications was learning from Gary Gensler, former chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Professor of the Practice of Global Economics and Management at MIT. “You put theory and numbers and analysis into a big political idea that people keep throwing around and you come to your own conclusions - do these methods make sense? This is super important, and it’s directly applicable to what I’m going to be doing full time,” Kohkhar said.

Expecting the potential stress that comes with a career in investment banking, Kohkhar spoke to the importance of mental and physical health. “The two are interconnected. When I’m interning, it is so important to move my body, go to the gym and workout. It’s a way for me to relax my mind and body. When you’re feeling disconnected or a lack of motivation, even some pajama workouts can make you feel better.”

Kohkhar stressed the importance of finding your place as a woman in STEM. At Exeter, one of her discouraging moments in Harkness happened in her CHE999 classes. “I think it was senior fall, and the teacher asked a pretty difficult question. I thought I had the right answer, but I was taking a little while to process my thoughts and every time I tried to speak I got interrupted. It happened at least three to four times. They didn’t let me speak until another guy stood up and tried to make space for me,” Kohkhar recalled.

“Don’t let others silence you because they think they have more experience or knowledge than you. Women in a field dominated by men are worth something. Diversity is important not just because of the numbers. When a community is diverse, we have diverse thoughts and an environment that actually allows people to thrive,” Kohkhar said.

For her long-term future plans, Khokhar is open to different options and paths, especially that of entrepreneurship. “You sometimes go to a hackathon and everyone wants to create an app for some random cause like finding people to hang out with on a Friday night. Is that really what we need and want? I think a consumer-facing app is a very narrow definition of entrepreneurship I used to subscribe to. Now that I’m learning more about industry financial services, I can find real problems. If I see a problem I’m passionate about, one I want to solve, I’ll probably get involved.”