As an annoying five-year-old, I wanted to be an astronaut. After I found out that you would need to withstand the force of 10 times of my (at the time) featherweight, I decided being an astronaut was out of the window. All my childlike aspirations left the window when I my English teachers during my time in India said that I had a knack for writing and drama. Everyone found it hilarious that I wished to be involved in drama and literature (despite showing a knack in the mathematics and science fields). I don’t know why I drifted from expressing my thoughts (that’s why I’m here!), but it just sort of left me.
Cue to my presence back in Canada, and I revelled in high school mathematics and science due to my accelerated curricula back in India. My teachers praised me for my control over novel concepts such as algebra in early high school, and I started taking AP classes early on in my career. I distinctly remember a teacher bringing up my knack for writing, but in an analytical context; and then I took my first statistics class. I spent an entire year learning all the introductory concepts of statistics, and I fell in love with it. It wasn't just about the numbers, it was also about how we could expand on the numbers logically, provide explanations, insights and predictions and thoughts in an elaborate and concise manner. It was like writing a story; but here the story is trying to make sense of our world. I love statistics more than I love computer science. I would rather learn how to deal with data more than learning how to deal with backend engineering. I do not like backend engineering; I like data science. I want to make the world a better place, I want to make the world a more comfortable and safe place while advancing the world at the same time. I want to build safer self-driving cars, I want to build safer autopilots for planes, I want to build and build and tinker. I want to make the world a lot more user friendly. I want to build the world’s most accessible personal health analytics platform for the patients of the world so we can use machine learning to better understand the human body and make lives easier for all of us. If it wasn't for my volunteer mentor Marleen, I probably wouldn’t have had a dream of creating something helpful for the people of this planet.
I also want to travel the world. I want to hit every continent in the world, I want to hit every country, every castle, every sight, every beach, every skydive, every concert, every art gallery and every party. I want to see the world from the perspective of another country. I want to see what the world has to offer, and I want to see what the world can do in any nook and cranny you can find on this beautiful planet. Our dear Earth is the one unique oyster pearl in the deepest sea of the universe. Sure, there might be more pearls out there, but you won’t find anything as intricate at this one (yet). I want to go to Australia and ride a cow and pray to Uluru and see the Great Barrier Reef before it gets destroyed. I want to go to Ibiza and dance till I am sore. I want to climb Mount Rainer, and upgrade one day to K2 (I will be allowed to visit Gilgit by then, I know it) and one day; Mount Everest. I want to go to Tokyo and eat all around Shinjuku. I want to go to New Delhi and eat at every chaat stall until I am crapping for an entire day from food poisoning. I want to see every museum and art gallery in Paris and truly become inspired by creativity. I want to go to Kenya and see all the animals before the corporations destroy all of the beauty this world has to offer. I want to work in the United States and really live in the hustle-bustle rather than live comfortably in my hometown. I want to skydive in New Zealand next to the sea and feel the thrill of falling out of the sky. I want my senses stimulated, I want my senses overloaded, I want my senses to experience every joy there is to find in this world.
There’s a reason why mundanity falls under the characteristic of happily ever after. A story ends at the happily ever afterr because there’s nothing left to elaborate. A little calamity; now that’s worth talking about. Screw anything and everything that doesn’t bore you. Feel excited and joy and I assure you, all calamities can be weathered.
I’ve decided to achieve a life worth weathering. A life of challenge, a life of impact, a life of experience, a life of exploration, a life of creativity, a life of joy and a life of ebbs and flows.
I want a life I can tell my grandkids about when I’m on my deathbed, in my happily ever after.
On today’s music recommendation, check it out: https://soundcloud.com/hablotbrown/little-bit.
Stay safe folks, and make sure you stay hydrated and calm during such troubled times.
