Looking Behind and Looking Ahead: 2019 and 2020

04 Jan 2020

Here it is: the annual retrospection for 2019, along with the things I’m looking forward to in 2020.

Looking Behind at 2019

2019 was an interesting year. Here are some of the highlights:

• I took part in the Mathematical Competition in Modeling again in January 2019. Our team modeled the opioid crisis in Appalachia and our paper was chosen as one of the three outstanding winners. Here is a news article from CU Boulder’s Applied Math department.
• I spent the summer of 2019 in Seattle interning in Microsoft’s Edge Experimentation team.
• I also broke my foot in Seattle.
• I started working on my honors thesis. It involves modeling the effects of node covariates on the outcome on interactions between nodes in a complex network.
• I led a recitation group for Critical Encounters, which was a class that reshaped my thinking. The recitation involved discussing personal philosophies with four freshmen for an hour every week.
• I finally got my driver’s license.
• I took a few interesting classes in 2019 – Chaotic Dynamics, Randomized Algorithms, Network Science.
• I stared playing video games again.
• I applied to grad schools 🤞

Looking at the numbers

• Number of goals that I set out to achieve: 3

• Number of goals that I completed: 0 (this fell apart two weeks into classes)

• Number of hackathons organized: 2

• Other competitions: MCM

• Number of scientific papers read: 32 (+2 from last year)

• Number of books read: 10 (-1 from last year)
• Number of books in progress: 1
• Favorite fiction: The Once and Future King

• Favorite non-fiction: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

• Favorite music album: Lover
• Favorite movies: Knives Out, Avengers: Endgame

• Favorite TV show: The Witcher

• Number of concerts attended: 2
  • Most memorable: Lewis Capaldi (Seattle)
• Number of theatrical performances attended: 5
  • Most memorable: Broadway Christmas Carol
• Number of video games played: 4
  • Most favorite: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (there’s a theme going on here…)

• States visited: Washington

• New outdoor activities picked up: Nordic skiing
• Old outdoor activities continued: Hiking, climbing, mountain biking
• Number of 14ers completed: 0 (-1 from last year)

Looking Ahead at 2020

Here are some things I am looking forward to in 2020:

• Being more intentional about what I do
• Having more music - I’m excited to learn piano!
• Teaching - I will be a teaching assistant for Chaotic Dynamics
• Attending more concerts and theatrical performances
• Reading more
• Exploring more of Seattle and Washington this year
• Finishing my thesis!

And some goals I am setting for myself:

• Read a scientific paper a week
• Read a book a month
• Complete 3 side projects
• Learn one new song every month

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That’s it for now! Happy new year!

“What do you mean? Do you wish me a happy year, or mean that it is a happy year whether I want it or not; or that you feel happy this year; or that it is a year to happy on?”

“All of them at once!”