Year in review - 2022
Closing the chapter on a year of change
Hey everyone!
It's been a fairly long time since my last post, but I've finally concluded an incredibly busy semester. Having time to follow up on hobbies and projects has been liberating to say the least. Seeing as the year is soon drawing to a close, I wanted to review some of the major lessons I've learnt, and formally wrap up what's been one of the most transformative periods of my life.
My experiences this year were split into 2 distinct halves - the first half of the year was one of stagnation and spiraling, whereas the second was one of unbridled enthusiasm. I've said enough about the former - it's the latter that I want to focus on.
"Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better." That's been the central theme behind my experiences over the past 6 months. I'm happy to say that I've made a lot of mistakes during this period. I pursued many interests, most of which didn't turn out to be sustainable or rewarding in the long-term. My ambitious nature and lack of experience, combined with imminent deadlines and academic requirements, forced me to make decisions that I later regretted. Fortunately, none of those had major consequences, and I was able to make amends most of the time. My priorities and goals are also much different now - I've realized that I'm able to learn and accomplish the most in a self-directed setting, and grades and other external certifications matter a lot less to me. In general, the time I've spent learning in public has paid off much more than time spent in the classroom - which is prompting me to ask hard questions about the real value of an undergraduate degree.
For a while, I was really active on social media, and I even considered turning it into a side hustle, but I've since tampered my usage significantly. I'm not ashamed to admit that I was guilty of oversharing at times, but it was part and parcel of my learning process. I'm also coming to terms with the fact that it's impossible to avoid assuming a persona on online content platforms. We are conditioned by social pressure and ranking algorithms to behave a certain way, share certain opinions, and to only draw focus to certain aspects of our lives. I keep this in mind whenever I'm sharing anything in public to avoid engaging excessively with public recognition, and I think it's important to always remind yourself that the things you do will never reflect who you really are.
In the same vein, it's all too easy for us to pass judgment on others based on the myriad ways in which they portray themselves, but in doing so we create an environment that's hostile to change. Nobody gets anything right the first time, and people will never grow if we don't accord them the grace to move on from their mistakes. In practice, this is probably one of the hardest things to do, but it's also the most vital to a life well-lived.
Moving forward, I want to dedicate my career towards the study of progress. My life is incredibly fulfilling, and I'm able to enjoy a standard of living well beyond what even the most fortunate people could achieve in the past. But I still think we can do much better. At the same time, I can't help but feel like I'm one of a privileged few - that out of pure chance, I was born into extremely favorable circumstances. There still exist many barriers - whether social, cultural, technological or otherwise - that exclude many people from opportunities to lead better lives. I'd like to contribute in my own way by focusing primarily on technology, engineering and education, and this newsletter is very much a part of that attempt.
Where will this newsletter head in 2023? There are many topics I'd like to write about, but I'm also holding myself to higher standards. There's a fundamental tradeoff between frequency and impact - publishing a weekly newsletter and writing a book probably take the same amount of effort over the course of a year, but the latter has greater potential to have an outsized impact (I don't intend to write a book just yet, but this is just to illustrate a point). And after an entire semester of overcommitting, it probably wouldn't hurt to take things slower and have a little more patience.
Finally, I'd like to give a big thanks to all the people who've supported me along my journey. None of my accomplishments would have been possible without the friends and family who've consistently supported me and brought color and camaraderie into my life.
This is me signing off, and wishing everyone a joyous holiday season 🎉