On writing, learning, overthinking
My life condensed into variably interesting posts on the internet
Welcome to Re: Life, where I chronicle my life, thoughts, and work in biotechnology on the internet.
Why a newsletter? So that one day, a long, long time from now, aliens might find these little time capsules and put them in a museum. Now that you know my motivations are pure, let’s get started.
What I’ve been up to
:// Right now, I’m spending most of my time drafting university applications (currently doing Penn and Stanford). So far, I’ve found that it’s a really mixed bag: some essays feels like I’ve been preparing to write them my entire life, and then there’s others that make me question my literacy. TL;DR: Business as usual.
:// Reading, listening to podcasts, and trying to channel my inner philosopher. Currently flipping through a book on self-care called “You’re Too Good to Feel This Bad”, and just finished what might be my favourite podcast of the year by the Knowledge Project. (Listen to it starting from 4:00. You’ll love this.)
:// Beginning to study the role of proteins known as transcription factors in the formation of cancer stem cells.
It’s SUPER fascinating stuff because if you look at a tumour, not all its cells are made equal: most of them actually aren’t very cancerous at all, and we think a very small fraction (the cancer stem cells) are what actually do the growing and spreading. Stay tuned for updates.
Thought of the Week
An interesting quip from the French philosopher Albert Camus:
You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.
The answers to life’s questions can’t be solved like the quadratic equation. We have to find them for ourselves. But overthinking distracts us from the entire point of it all: being alive. Get out of your head and into the world.
//: Thanks for reading! I’m Aaryan. My main work lies at the intersection between hardware and medicine, trying to build better diagnostics / imaging systems to help us treat cancer. Also trying to figure out life, the universe, and everything.