The past three months have been interesting to say the least! Where do I even start š¤
Internship
At the start of October, I completed a one-week mini internship at a Canadian business education organization. At my first job at a formal company, I learned to work on the assigned tasks at my own pace, whereas in school, I was used to having teachers direct my time. During the end-of-the-week coaching session with my leader, I reflected on areas to improve, such as the frequency of asking others for clarifications, and finding solutions proactively even when I have only partial control in a situation. I applied my business and entrepreneurial knowledge to the job and gained clarity on the type of internships I will look for next summer.Ā
Things that Iām proud of
After the internship, I dove right into:
Making a poster, composing a Terms & Conditions form, and finding new customers for my small business. Iām currently in the process of hiringš¤«Ā
Designing and trying out Theme day, a scheduling framework that allows people to focus on a different āthemeā per day. You can find a sample on my notion template
Assisting with communications in my motherās company
Improving my writing skills through writing essays and editorialsĀ
Continuing a five-to-ninety-minute daily Python-learning session. Iām on my 151st day today!
Recording a lot of content for my Youtube Channel
Doing three to six weight-lifting sessions and basketball practices per week
I was also able to spend more time with my mom and my friends than I have before. In high school, I sacrificed social opportunities to study more, but Iāve gained back experiences Iād previously missed out on during this half-gap yearāØ.
Obstacles
Initially, I faced a problem common to gap year students: Holding myself accountable for time management, especially on the days when Iām low in spirits. Self-discipline came more easily at school because project deadlines and test dates forced a consistent work routine upon me.
I had to seek out social opportunities. I became great at sending check-in messages and initiating hangouts, but these interactions do feel less natural than seeing friends and classmates every weekday. My phone and computer screen time has gone up drastically with online chatting, but I accepted that this is the best way to stay connected with the people I care about, and also to form new relationships.Ā
I didnāt read as many books as I wanted to. Went through some contemporary fiction page-turners quite quickly, such as They both die at the end and The love hypothesis. Still, I got stuck on a few educational but ādryā non-fiction books, such as Why we sleep and Principles for dealing with the changing world order, which is what Iām reading right now.Ā
Since I spent most of my time alone, I got lost in my thoughts more frequently. But I donāt think itās bad for my mind to wander about the nuances in life, the abstract ideas I was too occupied to notice and consider before.
Iām still struggling to spend time cooking. No matter how abundant my time is, I would always rather do something more āproductiveā than cooking food that Iāll demolish quickly. I ended up eating out a lot and restaurant food is not the healthiest. Itāll be interesting to see my diet quality in college, where I wonāt need to worry about cookingš©āš³ with the unlimited swipes meal plan I selected.
Sleep schedule is still fucked up :( Similar to the issue with cooking, Iād rather do many things instead of going to sleep. As someone whoās more focused at night, sleep usually drifts away from my top priority, and going to bed before 1am takes more grit than what Iād givenā¦ When I went to bed at a late time, I found it hard to start my day before noon and I felt sluggish throughout the next day.Ā
In general, not all my problems disappeared with having all the time in the world. There will be unique struggles at every stage of my life, but learning to be satisfied with the things that I did achieve and viewing my shortcomings with a growth mindset is a choice.
In an upcoming writing piece, Iāll talk more about the concept of contentment.
Growth
At the beginning of my gap semester, I measured productivity and time management skills by comparing the amount of time I dedicate to work now versus my average daily study time in high school. After attempting to hold myself to my āhigh school standardsā (if not more), I noticed that school productivity isnāt a reliable measurement - for my gap semester and the rest of my life. The skills Iām gaining on my own are different from standardized courses and are often more pertinent.Ā
Originally, my personal goal for my gap year was to outpace my learning speed at school. However, soon enough, I began to see that studying and learning arenāt closely connected. Hereās my interpretation of
Studying vs. Learning:
Studying = Memorizing informationĀ ā short-term Working Memory, which means that information is stored until used for a specific taskĀ
Learning = Making sense of information ā long-term Semantic Memory, which is the ability to recollect accumulated ideas and knowledge
In my previous passive learning era, I did a lot of listening to people explain. In my current active learning era, Iām doing the things I need to learn, even though I might not have all the knowledge yet.
For example, Iām doing a 200-day Python challenge. I began the challenge as a beginner who knew very little about Computer Science, but I searched up tons of questions as I went. First, I googled the definition of Booleans, While Loops, and Functions. Slowly, my research progressed to āhow to import a new libraryā and āhow to use Selenium automated testing.ā I watched Tech with Timās Youtube tutorials. A week ago, on Day #144, I finally created a web scraper, which is also my very first project without following a tutorial videoš. Watch me run my web scraper here!
Another example of active learning is using iMovie to edit my Youtube videos. I had no experience in video editing whatsoever, and I spent more than five hours putting together anĀ eight-minute videoš. From watching the recorded footage, to cutting down the video, to adding texts and effects, I found that acquiring this new skill took a ton of time, but I donāt think thereās a faster way to learn it than doing it myself. Even if I took a course, I wouldnāt learn it faster as I would struggle to apply the knowledge from the course.
In the 21st century, I need to leverage the free, reliable resources on the internet, and having a computer and wifi is enough for me to learn anything I want. Iāve relied on tutors and teachers in the past, but I started to look for what I need to know on my own during my gap semester.Ā
Active learning is challenging, but instead of being spoon-fed information in school like I used to, I went through the process of learning how to learn.
After repeating the exercise of asking questions and googling answers for a few months, I now feel confident to bring this skill into my College learning experience.Ā
New understanding
To me, college application was about finding a school thatās the right fit for me. Whether a college is in Canada or the US, I had the privilege to choose from my options. However, this is not the case for many other students, especially students from developing countries.
Two applicants to Babson College reached out to me on LinkedIn, and they enabled me to form this new viewpoint. These two applicants are from developing countries and have coincidentally taken a gap yearā not by choice, but because of their financial situation. Their applications showed that they overcame many obstacles to learn English as their second or third language and write Common App essays in a foreign tongue without the resources and help that I had. Although their dream school is Babson College, they expressed that any US college with a full-ride scholarship would be a dream come true.Ā
Some people donāt like the US and are scornful of the American Dreamāa theme Iāve heard a lot from acquaintances and friends. However, I believe that being able to look down on the US is a privilege. Some can stay in their own country since there are sufficient learning resources and economic opportunities. Their living conditions are safe, and a comfortable lifestyle is attainable through hard work. Yet, many other countries donāt have that abundance. Their citizens want to go to the US for a better life. Their American dreams should be validated and respected.Ā
Before we hold a belief, an opinion, or arrive at a firm conclusion, we must consider various perspectives and look through other peopleās lenses. Otherwise, our viewpoints are subjective and limited to what we see in our own lives, without thinking about other peopleās circumstances. Meeting these two applicants online enriched my point of view on education and helped me reflect broader beyond my lived experiences.Ā
Shoutouts
Shoutout to Aaron for supporting me with learning Python. I would not have been able to make the progress I had made without our two-hour meetings to debug my code. Your mentorship has been so important and you made me see the most fascinating and rewarding aspects of computer programmingš»!
Shoutout to Victoria and Cameron for our fun hang outs and food explorations. I love that we always have a blast whenever we make spontaneous plans and spend time together. The past few months wouldāve been so boring if I didnāt have my besties š„¹
Shoutout to Yoni and Jacqui for training šļøāāļø me three times per week, and pushing my physical and mental strength to higher limits. Iāve always loved sports, and this newly-found passion, weight-lifting, has also become an essential part of my life.Ā
Shoutout to Coach Omari for inviting me to train basketball with George Brown Collegeās womenās basketball team! I admire the unity, discipline, and commitment your team has shown, and Iāll be applying the same mindsets and work ethics to the remainder of my basketball career.Ā
Shoutout to the ābuildersāĀ (you all know who you areš) for the safe, open, and non-judgemental space weāve cultivated together. Itās great to see that weāre comfortable with sharing our āhot takesā and āunpopular opinionsā with each other :)
Last but not least, shoutout to Mom and Dad for supporting my decision to take a semester off before I go to college š I lived a fulfilling six months that not many 18-year-olds get to experience.
Andā¦ thatās a wrap!
Creating this newsletter in September has been an incredible opportunity, and Iām looking forward to continuing to share my new learnings, understandings, and also questions and challenges in 2023~
Be authentic, be vulnerable
Elena š
I love how honest this whole piece is. Just got to read it all in detail. Keep killing it homie
What a lovely piece of self reflection!! So proud to see how far you're come, and I'm just as excited as you are for the future :) keep forging your own path in life! <3