shamdasani.org

2019: Year in Review

It's been an incredible decade. Here's to the next.

Welcome to the 2019 Annual Report

What a decade. Where do I even start?

Well, I just finished my first semester at Michigan. It's been an amazing four months. I've met so many talented people, learned a ton, and experienced part of all that college has to offer.

Although I've missed my family and friends from back home, I've also enjoyed college life. While the food is alright and the dorms aren't nothing like home, the new experiences and friends make up for it!

But to be honest, I still just can't believe it. I'm 18, officially an adult. Everything's flying by.

Here are some metrics over the past year:

599 miles run

I only recieved my GPS watch halfway throughout the year, so this doesn't speak for all my mileage! My total elevation gain was 25, 908 ft. (.9 of Mt. Everest!), which is pretty cool to look back at.

142 tweets

with 82k impressions and hundreds of engagements

8 instagram posts

#influencer

37,337 minutes listened on spotify

I share my account with my sister (sooo can't share my "top" artists here...)

5 books read

(Meditiations, When Breath Becomes Air, How to Win Friends, 12 Rules for Life, Sapiens) I've invested my time in many blogs and podcasts, but did some reading too. I'd like to focus on reading more in 2020 (1 book/month).

365 journal entries

This was my first year journalling! I'm so glad I did it and will countinue to do so. I started in October 2018 (early in my Senior year) on a Google Doc, but transitioned to a physical journal shortly thereafter.

Let's break it down

January 2019

Symposium Presentation

12th grade presentation at my cultural school: From the "self" to the "SELF"

February 2019

Ended shoveling business

Since I was in the 7th grade, I've been shoveling driveways with friends — earning anywhere from a couple hundred to a thousand every season. It's how I bought my drone, computer, and camera! I won't be able to continue as I'll be in college every winter for the next four years.

April 2019

Directed the largest high-school hackathon in the tri-state area: MakeSPP 2.0

120+ students, 20+ mentors, raised $8k+ (https://makespp.com)

MakeSPP

Commited to college

I committed to the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor on April 12th, 2019.

I was absolutely ecstatic to find out that no-one had claimed the uniqname "samay". Shoot me an email sometime! :) samay@umich.edu

Visited Michigan

Michigan1

Michigan2

Wrapped up track szn (and high school running career)

Track

Mime

Participated in my cultural school's mime show on Mahatma Gandhi.

Prom

May 2019

Parents threw me a suprise birthday / grad party (May 17th, 2019)

SurpriseBday

Graduated high school (May 23rd, 2019)

Grad

June 2019

Graduated cultural school

Intern @ DataCamp in NYC

Software Engineer on the Growth Team (June - August). Worked at Empire State & World Trade Offices!

DataCamp

July 2019

Attended summer camp at my cultural school

August 2019

Counselor @ Northeast Kingdom Running Camp in Vermont

Made this sick video.

NKRC1

NKRC2

Going away to college :(

GoingAway

Moved in to college on August 28th, 2019

MoveIn

MoveIn2

September 2019

Welcome Week

"College"

welcomeweek2

welcomeweek1

Here's a couple friends and I with the president of Michigan, Mark Schlissel!

First Football Game: Michigan vs Army

110,000 people packed in one stadium is one exhilarating experience.

fbgame

Ran my first collegiate 8k race.

29:09 for 5 miles (~5:50 pace)

mrun

October 2019

Michigan Business Challenge w/ Jason, Varun, & Sean

We got cut the second round. Our idea was a data platform to centralize data sources and manipulation pipelines (esp. at startups).

business

November 2019

IASA Dance Show

IASA

Thanksgiving w/ fam

thanksgiving

December 2019

Survived my first semester

  • ENGR 151: Intermediate Computer Programming in C++
  • COGSCI 200: Intro to Cognitive Science
  • PHYSICS 140: Mechanics
  • MATH 215: Multivariable Caluculus

It was tough, but a fun semester!

friends2

friendsgame

Holidays

There's nothing like being home for the holidays.

holidays

holidays1

What's next

2020 Goals

  • Write more. At least 12 blog posts (one / month)
  • Vlog college experience. Make a few (2-4) videos every month.
  • Work out every day — no matter what. (Run, gym, body weight...)
  • Make at least 30 minutes every day for personal time — meditation, reading, etc.
  • Bootstrap a small, lifestyle business to bring in passive income