Blog!

Hey, welcome to my focus and habits week 3 blog. There’s a lot of cool insights, goals, and other things here to see.

Yale Video

Laurie Santos’s speach on her new course in Yale Psychology and the Good Life talks about a lot of the mental struggles and stress that students both in college and even in high school, middle schools, and elementary schools face as a result of the pressures of placed upon them by themselves, their parents, their teachers, and even society’s norms and expectations.

Here at Del Norte, almost all of the teacher I know complain in one form or another that student culture is very pushy towards taking APs and high level academic classes. Lot’s of times, just as Santos surveyed, I find that I, and many of my other peers, struggle to actually effectively learn other arguably more important skills and overly burden ourselves. This comes in the form of practical struggles which we’ll face in our adulthood such as independence, communication, and mental coping. In turn, we also over look many of the arguably more happier and fulfilling aspects of our lives.

In my opinion, much of this stress in high school is the result of expectations of going to college. Look at Europe for instance, although it’s cliche to compare American and European institutions, it is undeniable that most European students are relatively far more laxed in getting into university and studying in university. The rigor and academic load is still relatively the same but most of the students find themselves far less pressured than their American counterparts.

To achieve and recognize some of this hapiness, learning and applying the methods to make one happy is essential. Letting go of some excessive or unnecessary expectations can often go a long way towards seeing the fulfilling aspects of our lives.

Among some really important practices she lists are: adequate sleep, time to appreciate and acknowledge gratitude (both self and outside), meditation, exercise, breaks. All of these are practices that can go a long way towards creating a healthier and ultimately more fulfilling life.

There’s definitely a lot more especially her insights regarding her course material and how to live fulfilling lives but I think that can be something I blog another time and watch in my own time to let sink in.

Code Code Code Goals

Applying the mindset that Santos’s speach sort of brings to light, I think as I code, I definitely want to keep in mind that I shouldn’t be coding for the sake of a grade or getting skills to go into a related CS major (as I likely am) but rather I should be coding to develop my interest within the field and seeing its applications as a powerful tool in my life and society.

For one, in CSA, the most important Code Code Code goal I have is being able to use CSA as a way not only to learn AP CSA material for the AP Exam, but also the best practices of coding, how to become a profficient programmer, and developing my creativity as one. This means creating self projects for me and briefly sharing an overview of either what I’m learning or what I’m doing.

Interests/Goals and Plans

In addition to recognizing the learning I gained through the Yale video, I think it would also be helpful to create a list of my interests, goals, and plans to create a clear sense of the things I’d like to accomplish in life. I have a lot of interests and truthfully a lot more than I’m able to commit or get through. But here’s a comprehensive list!

  • Piano: I’m an avid pianist and love playing songs I listen to
    • Play songs by ear
    • Practice CM 10 songs
    • Find more songs
    • Practice rhythms and scales
  • Traveling:
    • Travel to more countries
      • Paris
      • Munich
      • Singapore
      • Japan
      • Taiwan
      • Vietnam
      • London
      • Madrid
      • Barcelona
      • More!
    • Eat and try more new foods
    • Travel independently (preferably pay for own trip w/ income)
    • Travel w/ friends abroad!
    • Study abroad in university!
  • Cooking:
    • Learn to cook traditional Vietnamese Dishes
      • Pho
      • Bun Bo Hue
      • etc.
    • Sandwhiches! (Banh Mi)
    • Salads
    • Bentos
      • Learn assortments
      • Rolls?
    • Bake
      • Cheese cake
      • Caneles
      • Chocolate Lava Cake
      • Flan Cake
      • Beignet
      • Chocolate
  • Guitar:
    • Learn to play finger style
    • Learn to play chord progressions
  • Deep Learning AI:
    • Learn Deep Learning Algorithms
    • Deep Learning Libraries
    • Applicaitons and Use
  • Quantum Computing:
    • How they work
    • Grasp understanding of theory
    • Learn to program them (theoretically)
  • Web Development:
    • Create personal website for myself (fastpages limited)
    • Learn to create complex HTML/CSS elements
    • Learn Javascript
  • SciOly:
    • Set up website for SciOly that’s easy to manage?
    • Learn Fermi Questions
      • Methods
      • On Hand Knowledge
    • Get Fermi Question Materials
    • Study for other events
  • Languages:
    • Japanese
      • Grammar
      • Reading/Listening
    • French
    • German
  • More: This is by no means a comprehensive list but it does list a lot of the things I’d like to do