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Final Semester

I decided last week that nothing too interesting happened that would necessitate me making a post, so I figured I would condense the past two weeks into a single post. Don't ask me why I chose this as the image for the post, I had a few ideas, and then one search yielded this image, and I went for it. Felt right.

Personal Updates

Regarding my weight loss, I have consistently been below 260 for the past two weeks or so, with this morning actually being my lightest weigh-in, now below 255. I do not really have a goal in mind for a number to hit, but I definitely have more of a runway than I thought. I am still going to try to workout consistently and watch what I am eating, but I will not pressure myself to do anything excessive to maintain my weight. My thought process is that eventually, I will hit an equilibrium where my new eating and lifting habits allow me to maintain a certain weight. I lost about 15 pounds while home for the latter half of December and the first half of January, and now I am back at school and settling in. 

Now that I am back at school, I am planning on starting a new morning routine. This will consist of waking up around 7:30-8, going for a short walk, then doing a bit of journaling, preparing for a workout, and then lifting for an hour or so which should allow me to get back and shower before my first classes which start at 11. I am only taking two courses this semester, one is Business Ethics, and the other is to be determined. I initially wanted to take a course about Wall Street and Silicon Valley, but upon further inspection, I realized that this was not quite what I was hoping for. That being said, I will attend the first class and talk with the professor to see if it is something worth sticking with. I should have an update by next week depending on how the first class goes, and my class schedule should be finalized in two weeks at the latest.

I also have to get cranking on my thesis which should get kickstarted tomorrow. I have a decent idea of what I want to do, and at every stage so far it has seemed feasible, but I am hoping that I do not hit a wall and have to start over at any point which is not unrealistic. I am hopeful that I can be productive and not leave this work to the last minute. Condensing my workouts and classes to the mornings and not having football or club obligations in the coming weeks should allow me plenty of time to accomplish everything that I want to do this semester, which includes trying to find a job. I have spoken with a few alumni in the past week or two and I am in the application process for one job so far. Again, I am not concerned with being unemployed after graduation, but I am trying to be a bit picky so that I can maximize the various values that I have deemed to be important to me instead of just latching on to the first opportunity presented to me.

Books/Other

It has been two weeks since my last update, and I spent a lot of time at home which allowed me to get through a good bit of reading. In the past two weeks, I got through Noise, Superforecasting, Lean In, The Like Switch, Bad Blood, When Breath Becomes Air, Greenlights, and as of this morning, How to Change Your Mind. I definitely will not be able to keep up this pace for the next few weeks, but while home I was able to download a number of audiobooks that I am interested in reading, so I at least have a plan of where to go next. 

Podcast-wise, I have done a decent job of keeping up with the main podcasts that I have been listening to for the past two years or so. I have also garnered a few recommendations from friends and alumni which I will be integrating into my media consumption when I find some time. I am excited for how this semester will go and I have high hopes that I will be able to learn a lot and have a lot of opportunities in the coming months. I have been in college for half a decade, and I think I am ready to move on to the next chapter of my life even though it is a bit scary and entirely unknown at this point. Hopefully, the habits that I have been building and will continue to develop over the coming months will serve me well as I move out and into an entirely new environment.

Gratitude

This week's gratitude post will revolve around my eating club, and specifically the delicious food which it provides me. Princeton is a unique place with its eating club dynamic, and I am very fortunate to be at a place that provides me with amazing food for every meal. This privilege was especially salient while I was at home and had to shop for groceries and make my meals. I am definitely glad to have that off my plate, pun intended, and will take full advantage of this ability for the next few months. After the next couple of months, I will pretty much never have the ability to just have someone make food for me with no hassle and no need to do my own dishes unless I get obscenely wealthy. While we have been moved to grab and go due to covid restrictions, I am nonetheless appreciative of this special place and the great memories that it has provided and continues to provide.
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