This past semester was truly unique, to say the least. My roommates can attest that I was tweaking out almost every day and was nowhere to be found in the dorm for most of the day. However, along with the long list of things I've done and tried out this semester, I also learned a lot about startups and myself.
Throughout the semester, I would reflect at the end of (almost) every day and decide whether or not I was satisfied with my decisions. It could be anything, from whether it was worth getting the taco plate from the dining hall to going out for a networking dinner the night before an exam; I forced myself to judge every aspect of my day. What I noticed was that doing this quick, simple reflection every night, and then trying to see how I can do better the next day, actually improved my overall thoughts of each day. Whether there were actual changes or I have just become complacent with my own decisions, my satisfaction levels throughout the semester grew. I did notice that I became more social, leaving the dorm more often than last semester, and I am honestly happy with that.
Sometimes the sporadic text of "come to dinner tn" can be the most powerful thing that changes my day. Over the last couple of semesters, I have forced myself to be on a strict schedule, reserving going out or meeting up with friends on the weekends for the sake of my academics. It is very hard to tell whether this has had a profound impact, given that my grades did drop in a way I was not too pleased with. I did realize that I would procrastinate in my dorm, putting off assignments or tasks until late at night and still going to bed at an ungodly hour. Forcing myself to seize every opportunity that came my way and taking a somewhat unstructured approach to attending these events meant the spontaneous nature of it actually helped me get my work done much more efficiently and expand my view of the world. I call that a win-win.
Working with my friend on our startup made me realize how risk-averse I am. I think it might stem from the fact that I truly want to ponder through every decision I make, but it can be slow and unnecessary, especially when time is of the essence. I quickly learned from working on the startup that although it is important to flesh out every decision, some things, like putting a couple of bucks down to run an experiment, should be done without thinking, even if the probability of success is so slim. I guess working more and more on my own startup, being in the jump seat for so many decisions, forced me to become risk-averse, and one could argue that a startup is just one expensive experiment.
You can't magically do everything. Trying to balance academics, research, a startup, athletics, and getting a reasonable amount of sleep seems like an impossible task, and it was. Each week became a round-robin of which of these commitments I had to prioritize, and sometimes it would just be half-assing them all, given how none of them would overlap. I would be frequently frustrated with the results, and I really had no one else but myself to blame. Even doing "trial periods" for each was unreasonable; the level of commitment is dynamic, and influxes for each can all happen at the same time. Although I do have a super-packed semester ahead of me, I will try to make sure that what I do prioritize maintains that priority and truly deprioritizes other activities.
I have a couple of great plans to keep my summer productive yet rejuvenating, despite how uncertain I am about what my day-to-day will look like.
Despite not being able to make it to ICRA, I'll still be making a trip with my friends, trekking around the continent. Besides booking our flights to Europe and setting dates for where we will be, the rest of the trip will be pretty unstructured. Who knows, a midnight bar crawl might be the best or worst idea ever.
Again, randomly driving to the cape with my friends for a weekend or hosting a small dinner party is such a great way to meet people and experience the world in an impromptu way.
I have a robot arm that is underutilized and a running joke with my friends about how I want to set up 600 agents to simulate mundane decision-making. No time like the present.
Right before finals, my friends invited me to do CorePower yoga with them, and I said why not. Although I do sail and have practices twice a week and race over the weekends, I haven't really been able to find a consistent schedule to go to the gym. I know I should go to the gym, and it boosts my productivity throughout the day, but I've always found last-minute meetings or the idea of working alone to be roadblocks. Luckily, one week at CorePower changed my mind about working out, and I am looking forward to going to CorePower every week, and maybe even challenging myself by trying [solidcore].
I spend a lot of time watching cooking videos, but not in an actual kitchen. Hoping to change that and go on a culinary adventure this summer.
I think I did a pretty good job this semester, despite the drop in grades, and the uncertainty of what I am doing this summer looms above me. Throughout the semester, I got to meet so many exciting people, have such enlightening conversations about anything and everything, and also took away so much from starting my first-ever startup with my friend. I also learned to let go and prioritize what I felt was right, even if it was tangential to what many people think.
I am looking forward to seeing how I can continue with some of these ideas during my super-unstructured summer; hopefully, it will feel just as rewarding as the semester did.