Looking back on 2024

Leap years are always more eventful. There’s the Olympics and the presidential election, which are entertaining/exciting/nerve-wracking in their respective ways. Last leap year, in 2020, I graduated from high school and started college. Oh yeah, there was also a pandemic. Now, more than four years later, it’s the end of another momentous leap year.

I graduated from college at the end of 2023, so 2024 was the start of another chapter for me. After celebrating western holidays in the states, my mom and I traveled to China in February for Lunar New Year. It had been five years since I last visited in China. COVID had discouraged us from traveling to see our extended family, but we finally decided that it was safe enough to go. I had never seen China in any season other than summer. It was cold and festive to say the least.

Around this time, I was also hearing back from PhD programs to which I had applied back in December. Graduate school was an option that I was still unsure of, so I had only applied to a few select programs that I knew I would truly be willing to go to. Most were rejections–that put quite the dampener on my holiday spirit. Carnegie Mellon University ultimately offered me a spot in their Societal Computing PhD program, and I gratefully accepted. For any big life decision, I don’t think you’re ever 100% sure. But if God gives me an opportunity, I’m going to take it.

After almost a month in China, we flew back home to the states. In late March, I traveled to Pittsburgh and attended the program’s open house, and was enamored of the community I met. I’ve never met a group of people with whom I’ve connected so well and so quickly. But it makes sense: not only did we get into the program via a selective process, we also all chose to pursue this niche field and career path. It’s no wonder our personalities and interests match incredibly well.

For the remainder of my time at home—which although relaxing, I hope is the last time I will be idle for such an extended period—I explored various hobbies, read books, and fed my inner child. Taking this time to rest and recalibrate was important to me.

In July, I finally got a bit antsy and booked some last-minute trips. Even though I hadn’t submitted any work, I attended IC2S2 (International Conference on Computational Social Science) in Philadelphia, where I networked and met academics whom I had followed for a while as well as researchers whom I hadn’t been aware of. I also went to NYC for a few days, where I caught up with some friends and attended a Jimmy Fallon show taping. I got to see Scarlett Johansson, Joey King, and Channing Tatum in real life, so that was pretty cool. I brought back home a bag of Ess-a-Bagels, which sustained me for a week’s breakfasts.

Then August finally rolled around, and I finally started my PhD. For all 2.5 years of my in-person college experience, I lived in campus dorms, so this is my first time renting an apartment. It’s not that much different, but it’s nice to have my own (albeit small) space. I’ve learned to develop a cleaning and meal prepping routine, as well as track my budget for each month. I’ve become close friends with the people in my cohort. I feel like I’ve found a place where I fit in. I haven’t felt this satisfied in a long time. I really hope that it lasts.

These past five months have been the most sleep deprived I have ever been, but it’s also the most excited I have ever been. Nearly everything I do–classes, research, leisure–I do because I truly enjoy it; it contributes to who I want to become and am becoming.

For 2025, I hope to flesh out projects, take interesting classes, and pursue hobbies and friendships that fill my cup in work and life. I’m really happy with where I am right now–I write this to remind my frustrated future self of the enthusiasm that I had as a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed first year. Despite whatever difficulties I will inevitably face, I hope that I will see the value in all parts (good and bad) of the journey. Keep your head up! You got this!

Cheers,

Meryl