And That’s A Wrap!
Looking back on 2021.
To be honest, I was expecting 2021 to be a disaster. And for a few months, it was.
The first bit of this reflection is going to be recounting a few experiences that served as huge lessons throughout the year and then I’ll look back on my best moments and goals.
Heading into January, it had already been around a year of quarantine and I was reaching a breaking point with my mental health. I was stuck thinking:
What’s the point of doing anything if I’m going to die anyways? I wake up, do school, do some more school, do some work, then go to sleep and repeat it all over again.
And as ridiculous as it sounds, the tipping point was seeing that my grade 10 math grade was below the class median at a 90%. Funny, isn’t it? It felt like everything in my life was going wrong and it had only been 3 weeks into 2021.
The day I saw that mark, I cried. A lot.
My family noticed something was off and we talked for a long time. I talked through my stresses, the trapped feeling I had and fear of letting them down.
To you reading this, just like my family reassured me, your health matters more than a grade. They need you and if you don’t feel that this is true, talk to them and be transparent.
I’m sure people that got to know me after January would be shocked to know this because I don’t place all of my worth on academics anymore. More importantly, I don’t compare them with others and instead just see where I, as an individual, can improve.
2021 Lesson #1: The people closest to you, value you and you are more than a percentage.
In March, I took on a United Nations consulting challenge with a team thanks to The Knowledge Society. Beforehand, I wanted to solve big problems in the world but my heart wasn’t really in it.
At this point, I was diving into longevity and learning more about technologies. I hadn’t yet developed any understanding of the global scope of any problem.
Investigating the lack of economic opportunity in technology for Cambodian women was fascinating. I interacted with other organizations tackling the problem, researched case studies and became an expert in the field.
Then, we came up with a solution and calculated impact based on the problem validation. Finding a problem before the solution was more fulfilling as I developed empathy and was more invested in solving it at any costs.
We did completely change our solution 24 hours before the deadline after all. I was able to pull it off because of my passion for the problem. This was foreign to me, I was never so invested in a technology as I was with the problem.
(Keep reading for the solution, I’ll highlight my most memorable moments later on.)
2021 Lesson #2: Find a solution to fit a problem. Don’t find a problem to fit a solution.
There was a stark difference between the first half of 2021 and the second half.
I hate to admit it but I was sucked into the Discord scene from December 2020 to June 2021, a very long time to get my act together, I know. I spent my time talking to random people on the internet and didn’t talk to people I was close with much.
Looking back on it now, it was a truly embarrassing point in my life, but it was a phase that had to be experienced and over with. Fortunately in June, I decided it was time to get a life and I deleted my Discord account completely.
From then, my camera roll got a lot more dense and colourful. It was filled with people and cool experiences. I could visually see the difference, I felt it as well.
On a similar note, I focused a lot on cold outreach in the beginning half as well. I sent emails to load of people and even got replies back and booked meetings with them. But, that was the end of it.
I didn’t maintain many of these relationships.
Keeping track of when to follow-up with 30+ people is pretty hard though. So, I stayed in contact with 4 amazing people I love having conversations about in different aspects. Rather than having surface level relationships, I optimized for meaningfulness.
Some special shoutouts:
- Shoutout to Margaréta for always being sweet and giving me guidance on healthy living.
- Shoutout to Ari for being so helpful and ready to offer advice any time.
- Shoutout to Junaid for being transparent and for the insightful longevity discussions.
- Shoutout to Greg for our conversations on healthcare access and strategy.
2021 Lesson #3: Quality of network > quantity.
TL;DR: January → June wasn’t the best, but I took these 3 lessons I learned to make the best out of the second half. I hung out with my (real) friends, delved into the problem of healthcare access and found a balance between school and other things.
21 Best Moments of 2021
- My family surprising me with a beautiful sweet 16. 🎁
- Exams getting cancelled twice. ;)
- Sending a recommendation deck to United Nations.
- Researching senolytics (aging drug) and how it can be effectively applied with nanotechnology. 🔬
- Becoming a content creator for gene editing & technology at Tract.
- Weekly provincial park trips with the family during the summer.
- Featured on Forbes!
- Getting our backyard redone (yay for a pool)! 🌊
- Hanging out with friends and smiling so hard my cheeks hurt.
- Starting & completing my first internship as a scientific researcher at BioViva.
11. Vacation to Point Pelee — such a mind cleanse.
12. Going back in-person for school. 🎒
13. Starting an internship at a healthcare startup (helped raise a seed round of $4 million+)!
14. Celebrating 1 year of my growth newsletter! (You should subscribe ;))
15. Halloween & Christmas— Carving pumpkins with friends, watching horror movies, Secret Santa, making gingerbread houses .. just those typical teenage life moments. ✨
16. Winning 2 hackathons! (National — Pridtect + Global — HemoTrace)
17. Learning how to code, almost done Python! + Diving into artificial intelligence.
18. Getting my first real plant! (Long overdue).
19. Developing an interest in different forms of art (fashion, music, design & photography).
20. Watching Spiderman: No Way Home. 🕸
21. Becoming comfortable in my own skin and building the courage to lead my own life. 💛
My Vision for 2022
When I plan my weekly, monthly and yearly goals, they fall under three buckets: lifestyle (health, relationships, habits etc.), personal development (projects, learning, internships/jobs etc.) and school (meeting a standard, extracurriculars etc.).
Personally, I’ve found this system to work. You shouldn’t only focus on one aspect in life, a balance is important. Well… you can cut out school at some point. ;)
Lifestyle
- Strengthen relationships & get to know 50 more people → Check-in with friends/mentors bi-weekly & strike up random conversations on Slack + Instagram
- Build up physical stamina → run every morning & join a sports team (if COVID lets me 👎).
- Clear up skin → Cut down on sweets intake & be diligent with skincare routine.
Personal Development
- Build 3 artificial intelligence projects → Finish learning how to code, set timelines for each project and produce content. 🤖
- Learn about brain computer interfaces → Read research papers and replicate 2 already existing projects.
- Drive consistent value from my internship → Working in software engineering and raising series A.
- Grow newsletter audience to 300 people → Add everyone & ensure content helps the reader as well.
- Take on unique opportunities → Asking mentors, researching speaking events and attending conferences. 🌐
- Publish a personal website → Actually blocking time to finish it.
- Be more public when building → Write 1 article / month & give consistent updates on Twitter.
School
- Maintain my current average → Studying effectively (focus > time spent). 📝
- Write a killer extended essay (IB diploma requirement) → Get feedback from mentors & do extensive research.
- Finish college/university applications → Block ~5 hours per week (second half of 2022) to write.
I’ll probably iterate on these goals more based on the COVID-19 situation but I’m excited to get building and to see what 2022 will bring.
Finally, the actual wrap-up 😎
I don’t really like the phrase: “New year, new me.” It almost invalidates all the experiences you had in the years before, both good and bad.
Just like how the human species evolves, you individually evolve too. We don’t become a new species each century. We take what worked from previous years and apply them.
So new me, cooler me. Healthier me. Smarter me. Funnier me.
Better me.
See you in 2022 with all your better you-s.
Before you leave!
As you might have already read, I write a newsletter where I give updates on projects I’m working on and advice for mindsets + mental health. I would love for you to join me and subscribe here! :)
