Blog post number whatever - life updates and such

I am writing this post on a southbound Amtrak train headed to Washington, DC from Princeton Junction, NJ. New Jersey, I will think of you as I suffer through shitty bagels and mediocre pizza for another 2 months.

It’s been an interesting few months since I last updated this blog. I’ve since graduated high school (hardcore readers may know this from a post I made in June that has since been deleted :P), and am currently going to college in Maryland. I’m planning on double majoring in computer science and biology because Maryland doesn’t have a bioinformatics track yet, which would have made my life a hell of a lot easier. Hopefully they’ll add one soon, and hopefully it’ll help balance out the growing evil brewing in the CS field.

I’ve made a lot of good friends at Maryland, and I’m honestly enjoying college a lot more than high school. People are a lot more open to talking and meeting new people than in high school. I suppose that makes sense as most people don’t come in with pre-existing friend groups like in high school, so every freshman’s just trying to find human connection. I’m also forced to go outside every day instead of being a shut in NEET like I was in high school, which in turn forces me to actually interact with people.

That being said, it’s been a bit jarring adjusting to this new life. I still sometimes struggle with self sabotage, often not talking to people who I’ve met out of fear of being overbearing or annoying. I’ve been getting better at this though, especially as I’ve gotten closer with the people I’ve met so far and meeting new people on campus.

Another thing that I realized was kinda keeping me down was instagram, which I deleted recently over spring break. I used to spend almost 5 hours a day on instagram alone. 5 hours that I could use to hang out with my friends, make music, or even fix this shitty website. I’m hoping that deleting it will help me be more present in the real world. We’ll see in a few months I guess. I really want my attention span back.

I’d like to finish with an anecdote. One that made me realize that there is still hope in the world.

Sometime in February, one of my friends invited me to a lunar new year event hosted by the university’s chinese student association. I decided to go with her and a few of my other friends — I had a great time, but I was a little overwhelmed by everything that was going on at that time, both related and unrelated to lunar new year. So I decided to meditate. I picked a relatively secluded area of campus and just sat there for about an hour, looking at the stars. Eventually, a woman who I didn’t know passed by and shouted “Hey, are you doing ok?” from around 10 feet away. I told her I was fine, so she told me to have a good night and continued on her way.

That interaction meant so much to me. There are still people who care. There are still people who give a shit. The world isn’t so bad.

Thank you, strange woman. We’ll probably never see each other again, and even if we do it’s unlikely that we’ll recognize each other. Even so, I hope we run into each other again. I hope I can thank you properly.

And thank you, dear reader, for still reading this blog after my 8 month long hiatus. I’ll try to post more often I swear!!