Life Update

Find the actual blog post below

Obviously I've completely forgotten that I've had this, but hey! In case you don't know me, my name is Johnny, but most of you know me as Jonathan. This is going to my first blog post really, as all of my stuff consists of guides/tutorials. In the future I would also love to make videos but I just don't have the ability to.

This is a reminder to myself to put in images/videos too

Typically my writing reflections are completely raw and done in a journal that only I see, so bear with me. As I'm looking back, something that I've told myself is that my life just hasn't been very interesting, in the sense that I would like it to be. I didn't land any super cool opportunities or work any fun jobs, and definitely something I will be looking forward to working on my senior year + side projects as well (they're pretty big though so maybe just projects?). I definitely don't take my experiences this summer for granted though, and here it is.

So what's happened with me?

• MIT Beaverworks Summer 2024 - I think the program's name is a spinoff of Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works. here is probably the best guest speaker talk (very abstract and idealistic though) attached to a playlist of some of the talks, not sure where everything went. IIRC they weren't really helpful. Learning materials were good, people not so much.
• Buildspace 2024 - Unfortunately this was the last season of Buildspace :( his farewell letter is here and was a huge surprise. Wish I went to the San Diego event.
• String Camp 2024 - One of the first lasts that's hit me as I'm a high school senior. I couldn't have asked for anything more at camp; it was fun to lead and will forever hold a place in my heart
• Helivox
• Fwiki - The free library of the best resources on the internet (that I've come across). Not open to the public yet 🤫
• NNFS - The first real step IMO in my journey to understanding machine learning at a high level. Working on building a neural network from scratch a nd ~70% done to my desired goal at the start.
• The FiveHive Project - Also a 🤫

Here are some smaller things:

• Bruch Violin Concerto - But I still sound terrible. I performed the 2nd Mvt. earlier this year.
• I started my first newsletter! Hopefully I'll be able to monetize it soon yay
• I "taught" myself cello using a rented half size in a few weeks after AP tests - but obviously I haven't put in the practice for basically every skill so I definitely can't say I learned how to play yet. Also didn't touch it the entire summer
• I played a ton of volleyball this summer - I would like to say that I'm not awful but I've yet to play serious competition haha
• Got a new camera lens - an EF 35mm f/2. Looking forward to taking pictures and shooting with it!

That's pretty much it for now. That just about covers what the last 3-4 months have been for me. College apps have been a slap in the face and I'm praying I can make it through, just getting some writing practice because for some reason when I sit down intentionally I can never get anything real to flow out from my head.

This is where the blog post starts if you were wondering for assignment purposes

A Guide to Finding Purpose and Regaining Your Attention (Part 1)

Part 2

This is by no means perfect advice, and honestly someone more qualified than me should be speaking on this matter. But I promise you, coming from a fellow High Schooler, I'll make your time reading worth it.

When we read the little quotes everyday in class on the board, it reminded me of the collection of quotes I'd saved.

The things you think about determine the quality of your mind. Your soul takes on the color of your thoughts

- Marcus Aurelius

I remember having this on my bio unchanged for 2 or so years and it was probably the 2 hardest years of my life (I'm still 17 I know). Besides that, I think another reason it stood out so much was because Aurelius, the last of the "good" Roman emperors, popped up for a few minutes in a history lecture this week. If I recall correctly, this was from his Mediations, which was only found long after his death which served as a sort of self-help guide. Really, I never realised just how true this is. The way we hold ourselves, the way we speak, the people we surround ourselves with, it's just a reflection of ourselves. However, taking an even further step back, moving to the root, I want you to embrace your inner Socrates for a moment.

What is your why?

Why do you do what you do? Am I volunteering out of the goodness of my heart, or showing up to a club solely for college apps, or am I truly willing to sit there and put in the hours because this is who I am?

But genuinely I hate that we have to condense ourselves to a few lines on paper for people to judge us on. I'm also out of space for this post - Thanks for reading!

A video that I thought would go well with this post ;)