Summer 2023

I stayed in Seattle this summer, and it was the first time I wasn't at home for a prolonged period of time. I was definitely bored and lonely for some of the time as I had trouble devising my own plans, but there were some exciting parts sprinkled in. Also I was working on iGEM stuff and moved apartments during the summer.

Artifacts

I didn't have much of a break after classes since I started working at the Washington Senate Democratic Campaign the Monday after classes. I was nervous because it was my first office job and my first paid job and because I had no experience in politics. I honestly wasn't even sure why they hired me! I was pretty closed off the first couple of weeks but over time I have opened up to other folks in the office and have learned a lot of Washington politics and policy issues. The conversations are really what I find value in. I worked about 2 days a week there during the summer.

While a lot of my days were spent either at the WSDC office or doing research at the Fuller Lab, I tried to do some things that would help me explore Seattle more. One of those was GelatoQuest. I didn't really know the difference between gelato and ice cream and I thought it would be fun to bring people along to go grab some with me. However, during the course of the summer I felt very unmotivated to do anything, and GelatoQuest was a struggle; I would sit in bed watching videos while wondering why I wasn't getting outside, enjoying the sun, or enjoying gelato. I only ended up going to three gelato places over the course of the summer, and D'Ambrosio's in Ballard was definitely the best (3 goats on my scale). Also, I kind of found out I don't like gelato that much (i.e., it's not good enough to justify the cost when there's a pint of ice cream right there :)).

One of the things that changed over the summer was my physical appearance. I had been growing my hair out since the week before school started freshman year, and hadn't got it cut since. It was down to the middle of my shoulder blades by the start of September. My family, all the split ends, and the fact there was an important event for the WSDC on September 10th got me to find this place in Columbia City that cuts hair for $20! Along with my head feeling a lot cooler in the Seattle summer heat, I really did feel like I was turning over a new leaf - though I struggled a bit this summer, a fresh cut was going to lead to a fresh Om.