Saya's 2021: Year in Review 😁
Starting college, landing an internship, living in the woods...again
Hey, it’s me, Saya!
This New Years’, I was inspired by this tweet to write a letter to my future self. Full of my current ponderings and naive wisdom, it’ll arrive in my inbox in 3.5 years when I graduate college…
2021 was full of lifechanging experiences – from graduating high school, finishing my time at The Knowledge Society (TKS), spending 3 weeks living on the ocean, starting my studies at Harvey Mudd College, and getting a summer internship with a NYC startup!
How I’m Doing
🎓 College:
Overall, the first semester of college was amazing. I met so many wonderful, brilliant friends and professors. I lived in (usually) sunny California with fresh produce. I was stimulated academically, getting 7 hrs of sleep per night, and really felt like I had found the right place.
❤️🩹 Health:
Physical health took a bit of a toll, from too much dining hall food and not making enough time for exercise. A priority for next semester will be to eat more nutritously (reducing my meal plan) and scheduling workouts 4x/week. Mental health wise, I was doing pretty well. There was a 2-week point where I hit a low due to family and other social stress, in which I receded from the social scene and biked to the mountains to spend time alone. I stopped meditating since I never had a consistent time where I had 10 minutes to do it, although I am going to try to reinstate this habit by reducing it to 3-minute morning meditations.
💼 Career:
I had a bit of a crisis in the beginning of the year when everyone began their summer internship applications because I felt pressure to figure out what I wanted to do. I realized that what felt the most natural and fun for me to explore was foodtech - so I went back and did the new TKS explore, did my own research, and reached out to various startups. This led me to the internship I got with a NYC-based restaurant app, where I will get to explore software, product, design, and business! It also led me to a personal project I’m launching soon with a friend called The Dorm Digest - a blog for cooking in the college dorm room. Very excited for what’s to come :)
What I Learned: “Just Ask”
This year, I learned the power of “just ask.”
I just asked Rise Sleep (a sleep debt tracking app) if I could get a free subscription instead of paying $60/year.
I just asked founders if they would consider me to be a summer intern.
I just asked people on LinkedIn if they would have a meeting with me.
Most of the time, people say no. Yet in a surprising number of circumstances, people say yes. In almost every instance, I had absolutely nothing to lose. So why not, just ask?
What I Improved: My Digital Workflow + GREENERY!
I am the type of person who gets very excited about organization, and with all of this change happening in my life, it was the perfect opportunity to reorganize my digital workflow.
I got an iPad Air for college (which I highly recommend) where I created my own digital planner to organize schoolwork, continued to time-block and budget on Notion, and invested in an email managing service called Superhuman.
I also began to incorporate much more green into my life…
Next step: get more plants to fill up more of my physical space with greenery! (I was a bit demotivated after I managed to kill my cactus plant one week into college… I think it was too hot even for the cactus)
Going into next semester, I’m a little bit nervous because balancing academics, social life, sleep, and exercises is going to be difficult. First semester for us was pass/fail, so the pressure of academics was alleviated to focus on everything else, but now, we shall see how I manage haha…
Next Up, The Fun Part: Favorites of the Year
Favorite Book: (For fun) The Martian by Andy Weir- I read this in a day!
Favorite Book, pt 2: (Most influential) Principles by Ray Dalio - made me reflect on my core values and how they drive me. Currently my 3 core values are Adventure, Gratitude, and Minimalism (I’ve been updating and reflecting on them again every 3 months). Going to an in-person Ray Dalio talk next week, so excited for that!
Favorite TV Show: Abstract: Art of Design - A series following many famous artists, from bio-architects to sneaker designers. Incredibly inspirational and expertly produced.
Favorite Movie: My Octopus Teacher - A documentary following a scuba-diver who forms a special relationship with an octopus. A marvel of nature.
Favorite Podcast: Philosophize This! - For anyone who wants to learn more about philosophy, this podcast is an excellent way to understand various topics more deeply. Each episode delves into a particular topic such as Stoicism and Buddhism, or a philosopher, such as Socrates and Nietzsche.
Favorite App: Rise Sleep - Tracks your “sleep debt,” which is essentially the amount of sleep you need to get to be at 100% energy. Especially for busy students like me who sometimes forget about the importance of sleep, this app kept me accountable and on-track to not falling asleep during class.
Looking Ahead 👀: Goals for 2022
📚 READ: 1 book per month. Pick one out on the last day of each semester. Make highlights, take notes, and publish a Medium article (if not about the book, about something also 1x/month). Here’s my Notion bookshelf.
🍳 THE DORM DIGEST: A college cooking blog I’m launching soon. Make this a priority for one weekend per month. Continually make progress on this - launch in the next month. Update our Instagram account throughout the week.
🏃🏻♀️ WORKOUT: 4x/week: Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday
Will reflect on my progress with these goals at the end of every month.
Future of This Newsletter
Thank you all for staying a part of my journey throughout 2021 - it’s been over a year since I sent out my very first newsletter in September 2020 to 2 subscribers!
During the school semester, it was much more difficult to make time for this, but will make it a priority to try sending out at least 4 newsletters per year (every 3 months).
Please don’t hesitate to reach out!
Peace out ✌️
~~ Saya