2024 was one of the most profound and impactful years of my life. If 2024 can be defined by one word, it's math. From taking 290 to finishing the first semester of the ACME junior core, I fell in love with subject and couldn't get enough of it. I pushed my mind to its limit, something I'm very proud to have done.
In 2024, I learned the beauty of building and saw doors open once I began taking initiative. Sometimes knocking won’t get you inside, but you can always kick the door down. I developed a strong conviction in my abilities and relied on the fact that I can just do things. No one is holding me back, I can create the world of my dreams.
I learned the valuable lesson of embracing my heritage. When I first arrived in college, I was running away from mormonism and the legacy of my ancestors. I’ve come to see how stupid that was. This year I found solace in their examples of being outsiders, rebels, and heretics. Rather than giving up their contrarian opinions, my forefathers moved west to build their idyllic futures. Their examples have inspired me to lean into my own contrarianism and not apologize for it.
I ran really far this year. Whether it was up mountains or the casual morning route, the number of miles I logged was a bit abnormal. A coping mechanism indeed, but I fell in love with the outdoors and connected to my hometown more than I’ve ever felt before. Utah is the best, I’m lucky to call it home.
I picked up drumming this year. What was once a way to release pent up energy, became a way to channel creativity. Drumming was the catalyst for a lot of change in my life. I learned the value of just doing things and being okay with not being good at something. I look at the progress I’ve made since the beginning of this year and I am blown away by how much I’ve improved. Those fills are sounding damn good these days, it’s time to get better stick control in 2025.
I read some pretty interesting stuff this year—all mostly correlated to AI and technological revolutions. My favorites were
DJT pulled off a remarkable win. It was crazy to watch public sentiment swing toward Trump as Biden and Harris fumbled the bag. I’m glad my guy RFK Jr is getting his opportunity to promote MAHA, it's long overdue.
I met some incredible people this year. I feel grateful to be surrounded by kids who are truly brilliant and see the world in such a different way than I do. I want to continue to make the most of my time in college by taking advantage of being able to meet really interesting people and soak up their viewpoints.
Music was pretty good this year. I explored different genres and found myself listening to a lot of metal and melodic edm. Weird combo. Yet it made total sense at the same time. My top albums of the year:
On a higher level a lot of this year was about noticing conflicts – grind vs ease, agency vs destiny, exploration vs exploitation, me vs world, math vs software, safety vs innovation, contrarianism vs conformity, etc.. . and feeling that these crutches actually explain a lot of my internal confusion about key questions. It’s been an existential year. I’m realizing more and more that I have existential tendencies, and that this is also the lens I use to understand and interact with people. I guess what I'm poking at is that I'm getting better at dealing with uncertainty. I have many questions about what the future will look like, but I have a strange sense that I'm on a promising path. One to remember.
Farewell 2024!