I Meant to Write a Short Post but Here We Are

16d ago in Self Improvement & Motivation

Hello!

Yeah, it's been a while since I posted something here, but here I am now. This year is, and will continue to be, one of the best years of my life for many reasons—but that's beside the point. I just wanted to share about my life and how it's going so far—I don't really know why, but I felt like it.

So, some lessons I've learned in the last couple of months are:

1. Don't Isolate Yourself: If you're someone who doesn't share anything with others, or at least with someone you trust, it's important to open up. Sharing what you're going through really helps others understand you better and know what to expect from you. Instead of just saying this without context, let me give you an example.

This is my junior year, and as most people think, it's the busiest year in high school. For me, though, it's on a different level because I'm an immigrant, and my story is kind of long, I don't want to delve too deep into it. It's not the same as a junior who has been in the same country all along. Anyway, it's different and really tough. There are coding competitions that I need to do every week, which are 3 hours long, for USACO and other tough competitions. Then I'm involved in three programs, working on two research projects, and one big project that we're all collaborating on. I just love my life.

But due to Robotics, I missed a day of school, which was the same day as my lab quiz for AP Chem. I was obviously absent, so the plan was to retake it the next day. I asked if she could give me a 2-day extension, and she declined at first. I was kind of sad because I had three tests (not including the lab quiz) the next day, and I hadn't completed the lab yet. Hearing people who took the test say it was hard just raised my anxiety. But the next day, she was absent, so I got an extra day. However, I needed to do other tests, so I wasn't able to take it on the second day either.

Today, I just went to her and explained everything I was going through, my schedule and everything. She was really kind and gave me one more day to complete it! She had declined before, but me explaining what I was dealing with helped her better understand me and what to expect from me.

2. You'll Lose Brain Cells If You Don't Sleep: You know where I'm going with this. I had two tests, and these were the same tests. Before one of them, I didn't sleep the whole night. For that whole week before the test, my sleep time was 2 am, maybe normal for you, but not for me, and I could clearly feel it. So I went to the test, took it, and when I got my scores—you might have guessed it—not good. It's not that I can't do it or don't understand it. I was able to answer all of them when I was doing my corrections. But you get the point: I wasn't able to do them before because I didn't get enough sleep, but I was able to later because I had slept for a few nights. I mean, there are some people who are used to this, but for most, not really.

3. Find a Buddy: This is one of the best yet toughest things to have. Having a friend that you can trust, who listens to you, understands you, excites you, makes you happy, helps you, that one or two people are the best thing you can have in your life. Like

@Daniel Umemezie

, we do almost everything together. Those projects, competitions, anything, you'll find both of us in them. If he finds something cool, we do it. If I find something cool, we do it. It's to the point that if I need to check if I have anything during a specific time, I can just check his schedule because it's that similar. Having a buddy also means that you can help each other and learn together. Learning together rather than alone is so nice. And

@Rudaiba Tarannum

, you know what you are; I don't need to explain anything.

4. **Talk to Your Parents!** So many people, with all these things, don't talk to their parents. Heck, I was one too. I was just so stressed with all the deadlines for all the projects coming to an end, and I didn't know what to do. My mom called me over to eat dinner, so I went. This was also when she started noticing differences in me and that I was stressing myself out—which, indeed, I was. She was like, "Chinnu, do you like the food?" and I was like, "Uh? Yes?" And, well, that's how she starts it. Then she goes on and on and finally asks what's happening with me and why I'm so stressed.

I mean, she's my mom, so I explained everything to her. The only thing she said after all my explanation was, "Go take a nap; I'll wake you up in 30 minutes." And I was like, "Why? No... I have a lot of things to do." But no, she insisted I take a nap. So yeah, I just did what she told me to do. And OMG, that nap made me feel so refreshed, and I was really able to think better and get things done on time (connecting back to the importance of sleep, at least a small nap). See, if I hadn't told my mom about this, I would have never gotten those things done. So please do share what you're going through and maybe—or maybe not—take their suggestions/words. They are from a different generation, so their suggestions might not work in this world, but it did in my case. Just talk to them; it doesn't mean you have to follow everything they say.

Now, I don't know—I'm not that online anymore, but seeing new people and existing people posting again felt great.

@Nowshin Jahan Jhelek

—haha, "Me giving advice as my mum chases me down to study"—really good.

@Rudaiba Tarannum

posting again—they are really cool and insightful.

And

@Kevin D

is back!

So that's awesome. Though I want to comment on every single post—ahh, I don't like to say I don't find the time to comment, but there are others who are dependent on me and my results, so I just have to do for them.

Come on,

@Daniel Y

, when is your comeback?

Anyhow, wow, I did mention a good number of people.

And coming to my posts—yeah, yeah, I know it has been like two weeks since I made a post on books. But what can I do? I've already made like 40+ posts on 40+ books—all the books that I've read, all the good ones at least. And it's just a mess to add book-reading time into my schedule. Bro, look at my schedule—I have meetings at 4 am? It's full until 2 am. I went from waking up at 5 am to sleeping at 5 am! TT, I don't like it...

But what will I be posting? Well, you know, you get to decide! So, two or more options:

1. Coding Tips and Lessons?

2. Learning About AI and LLMs?

Or just anything related to coding or CS—I'm more than happy to make a post on them every week (I really hope I can).

So yeah, you guys can pick them or just anything. I'm not an expert in CS or hold any kind of degree, but I've done enough projects that I can call myself a good candidate.

Well, as much as I didn't want to make this a book-length post, I ended up making it one, oops, my bad.

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