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Fore!

This week was the first weekend since I have moved into the Princeton area that I was able to just stay in the area and hang out with friends which turned out pretty nice.

Personal Updates

Lifting-wise, my hands actually healed up pretty nicely by Monday and I was able to do every lift this week. We did the run test on Wednesday and that went surprisingly well. I think this is the earliest in the summer I have ever been able to run and pass our conditioning test, being almost a full month away from the start of camp and basically being done for the summer more or less as far as pre-season stressors. It definitely feels good to know that I can miss a lift now if I am feeling a bit beat up or in need of a break. I need to plan out the next few weeks with lifts to try to potentially give myself a break at some point prior to camp when things really ramp up.

I also was able to go bowling this week for the first time in quite a while. I consider myself a slightly above-average bowler but the first game we played was pretty brutal. It turned out I had totally forgotten how I normally bowled, but luckily I was able to get it back for the last two games where I got over 150 and a turkey. Keeping with the athletic theme, I also went golfing for the first time in my life this weekend with some friends and just played 9 holes. I had very low expectations as it was my first time and I did not really know what I was doing, but it went surprisingly well. I got a few bogeys, and only lost 1 ball in some tall grass which, to be fair, was hidden from where I teed off from and I thought it would just be the normal fairway. All in all it went well and I am excited to get some more games in and improve. 

Books/Other

This week I read Brave New World which was definitely different than what I have been reading so far. Even though on the surface it was not the same type of book that I have been reading, save for potentially The Time Machine, I was still able to draw a lot of parallels to the concepts that are talked about in some of the other books. Thinking about all of the advancements that we are currently making with gene mutation and editing, stem cell research, and mapping the genome it seems like some of the concepts in the book are things that humans will have to actually consider some time in the not so distant future. I can definitely see the reason why this book has become a classic and I am happy that I read it.  

I have not started my next book yet, although I did download a recommendation from an alum to my kindle so hopefully, I will start cracking away at that this week, and also potentially start some other audiobooks that I have downloaded but haven't started. I have fully caught up with the podcasts that I have been keeping up with and have gotten into somewhat of a rhythm on that front. I do not mind getting a bit behind on them to be honest because I can listen to several episodes back to back and then I get a lot of information on the same theme which can also be helpful. 

Gratitude

I feel that there are so many things that I have been consciously thankful for this week, but the one that stands out the most, primarily due to my excursions and some of the other interactions that I have had this week I think I will have to say that I am thankful for my friends. I have leaned on some of my friends this past week for help with various things and opportunities for social interactions, and connected with an old friend of sorts that I had not spoken to in quite some time who inspired me to reach out to some other people that I have not spoken to in a while. 

Also this upcoming weekend I will be going back home to see some of my old friends from growing up which will be nice because I have not seen them in a couple of weeks now and it will continue to be tougher to see one another in the next few months with school and football starting, and then in the next couple of years as we are all starting our careers and potentially moving all over the country. I have definitely been very fortunate to have a close group of friends that I have kept in close contact with over a long period of time and I realize that not everyone has those connections. 
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