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Oops

So I ended up skipping last week's post kind of on accident. I had most of the post saved as a draft but I guess just forgot to publish it to the site. I did not realize this until Wednesday and figured it was too late so I just decided to do a double duty post this week.

Personal Updates

There is a pretty decent amount of stuff to catch up on from a personal updates perspective, but I will start off with lifting because that has been a persistent theme in these posts somewhat accidentally. I finally hit 315 on cleans which is a big milestone for me at least. I had failed it about two months ago when I did my max test prior to beach week and was happy to get three plates on the bar pretty solidly. I have maintained pretty good health so far since I have moved to campus, and my lifts are progressing quite nicely. I hit 355 on bench for a single and 275 for a speedy 9 reps this past week which I believe is a PR. I have two more days this coming week of lifting down here and then I will take a short break and go home to rest up a bit before camp.

I was also able to do a couple of other fun things in the past two weeks such as going down to a beachside bar with some friends, went back home to one of my friend's graduation party which was great, and also got to go to six flags after not having gone there for a number of years. Additionally, I was able to meet up with my boss in person briefly after not seeing him for over two months. I am excited to discuss my future career opportunities with him in the coming week or so as my summer internship turned full year internship is coming to a close. 

Books/Other

I have not been reading as much as I would have liked to, but I think I will do some serious catching up this next week since I will be home and will not want to work as much prior to camp. I did get through Educated this week which I enjoyed a surprising amount. I definitely do not intentionally seek out memoirs to read, but happened across this one and saw how popular it was so checked it out. It definitely came to me at a time when I am thinking a lot about religion and upbringing and education so it seemed very fitting. Also I am currently reading a book about the pandemic which I am hoping will help me with my thesis at least a little. 

Regarding podcasts I have kept up with the We Study Billionaire's podcast including the Bitcoin Fundamentals podcast, and also the Daily Stoic. I have also sprinkled in various other episodes from different podcasts that I either sought out on my own or came across from one source or another. The most interesting one has been Huberman Lab's which talks about body science which is super interesting to me given all of the years of training and knowledge that I have accrued through athletics and weight training. 

Gratitude

There is much to be grateful for these days it seems, but the most obvious/relevant theme in the past few weeks has been relationships. Especially this past week as most of my football friends headed home and I will not be seeing any of them until the start of camp. Walking around campus and seeing everything start to get ready for everyone to get back is really exciting and I am somewhat nervous to be back and have to meet a few new full classes of people. It is one of my goals for this next year to try to make a lot of new friends after seeing the behaviors of some of my classmates that graduated last year. 

I definitely want to make the best of this next year and be able to go into graduation and the real world with a group of solid friends as well as a lot of less close friends that I could still keep in contact with in case my job or life takes me to different cities, states, or countries, and I am in need of a friend. I have definitely seen the power of networking, and specifically the Princeton network in the last two years and I am excited to find my place in it and hopefully one day give back to people that follow in my footsteps. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to be around all of these interesting and amazing people with such diverse backgrounds from all over the world and I hope I can keep to my word and make the most of the opportunity.
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