Spring Quarter '26
Background music - Constellation by Loving Caliber
This is maybe the last quarter before my final year(?) There are too many questions I have right now I need to eventually figure out. Do I apply to Master's programs? Do I get a job at a lab? Do I work at a company? Do I live out my wildest dreams and end up at [redacted] or [redacted]? It's kind of early to tell. I feel like shoving a Glock up the roof of my mouth. 😄
This isn't about that; this blog is about how spring quarter is going so far.
Optimization is an ass class, but I'm praying he lets me drop the final. Making me sketch out the simplex method by hand truly has to be a waste of time.
Flower Power was a bunch of codswallop; I still didn't figure out if I should buy flowers on a first date or not.
Probability is going okay. I need to probably (hah) study soon, given all the stuff that has been covered.
Geography is also another Mickey Mouse class, but I feel bad for the professor, who's a middle-aged woman who has to read through these swaths of AI-generated slop she assigns everyone to write. I definitely wouldn't even think of doing this, btw.
Anthropology is a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse course, but shoutout, Jacob the TA, I love his Aussie accent and his smile. And whenever he comes into class, there's a relaxing air. Sometimes I feel like we STEM people put the weight of the world on ourselves. Then, when you see this goofy dude in shorts and a Hawaiian shirt, talk about some cultural diffusion, that's when I feel the world has always been, and will keep on spinning. Asking me to write a 2000-word essay that no one is going to read is BS, though.
I have definitely been having more fun this quarter than the trainwreck that was the winter quarter. Possibly even more than fall quarter. I think it's because two of my closest friends visited. Sometimes I forget how much I love them until I'm with them, trying to say the most cursed shit, while using codewords of all the little internet subcultures we're part of.
I think it's also partly because of the weather: when you squint your eyes to shield yourself against the sun, it kind of forces you to smile(i.e., scrunch up your face), and that just kind of forces you to be happy. I'm also not sure why there are so many spiders everywhere, but I guess you can't have everything. I think I've brushed off 5 spiders off my bike, and one of them was a jumping spider ffs.
I think I'm also really excited because summer starts soon, and I will be in SF this summer. I dont think anything's ever going to compare to Boston because it was the first summer where I had full freedom, and it was the best summer of my life, but I'd be lying if I said SF wasn't my dream. I'm so excited to try out all the new ice cream places, hang out near the sea, go on scenic runs, and hang out with my friends (both old and new, if you're here this summer, hit me up). Oh, and I need to pick a fancy restaurant to go to this summer. Here's to hoping I win those two grants so I feel less guilty.
I have such high expectations from last year; it's going to be hard to meet them. Insert a spiel about how it won't, and that's okay, but unfortunately, I'm not that enlightened just yet. I'm going to miss those runs from Harvard Square down Mass Ave to Kendall. Even typing those words just brings back the pictures in my head lol. Is it possible to love a city that much? The people, the restaurants, the weather (except the day I forgot my umbrella), the grocery stores, the waterfront, the T, all of it. Not to say I dont love SF already, imagining myself running across the Golden Gate Bridge, checking out the view from Marin in the evening, going to more exclusive Luma events, eating obscene amounts of Ghirardelli. It's hard to put all the hopes and dreams that had only been in words that had previously been let out by playing Watch Dogs 3 till now.
Here's to a great '26 summer :)