Re: Life / on summers, phages, and boredom
My life condensed into variably interesting posts on the internet
Welcome to Re: Life 👋 !
I’m Aaryan - currently a freshman at Stanford diving headfirst into a world of biology, hardware, and mild sleep deprivation.
You’ve just stumbled on the weird corner of the internet where I chronicle my life. In every post, I share three quick updates from my life, two useful resources for you, and one idea to reflect on for the week.
Let’s begin.
Three Speedy Updates ⚡️
> Back at Stanford to conduct independent research this summer! Specifically, I’m trying to isolate novel viruses, known as phages, that can infect and destroy pseudomonas aeruginosa, which is a bacteria that already takes hundreds of thousands of lives every year.
![Left: a picture of me smiling in Stanford's main quad, standing in front of a tree with violet blossoms. Right: me holding my very own culture of Li010 bacteria.](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4b4935e7-f1bc-4159-b572-bf96ac2ddcfe_4032x3024.jpeg)
![Left: a picture of me smiling in Stanford's main quad, standing in front of a tree with violet blossoms. Right: me holding my very own culture of Li010 bacteria.](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7a6ea66b-6019-45cb-90d2-73a45a3afd1d_4032x3024.jpeg)
> Was incredibly fortunate to be chosen as a Stanford SERI fellow, Merge Fellow, and OSV fellow. With the support of these programs, I can’t wait to continue my research on phage therapy and vaccine development!
(On that note, a massive shoutout goes to Eric Heng and Dr. Steve Luby from SERI, Atman Pandya and Nick Tawil from OSV, and Julian and Ari and Sasha and Kai from Merge. It’s an honor to work on these ideas and share this journey with you!)
> Using this summer as a chance to explore the Bay, reconnect with friends, and otherwise collect interesting experiences (like going on my first real hike, or engaging in boomerang competitions with strangers…)
Two Fun Resources 🎉
Merge Fund
If you’re ambitious and working on an interesting project, apply for a Merger grant.
In Defense of Boredom
Some of history’s greatest thinkers and creators were proponents of boredom. Here, we explore why.
One Big Idea 🧠
Some months ago, my professor and I were biking to a lab meeting. We were already late. But as we haphazardly locked up our bikes and rushed toward the building, he stopped and gestured to a cherry tree that was in full bloom.
“Isn’t it beautiful?”, he said.
“Yeah, it really is,” I reply guiltily. Till then, I didn’t even notice.
How can we expect to be grateful for life when it’s always whizzing past us? To appreciate beauty, we first need stillness.
This week, try asking yourself: is this the best tempo to live my life?
Best,
Aaryan
This sounds super exciting! Keep us on the loop with the phage stuff 😄