New Approaches

Jeremi discusses relearning concepts; Luca sets intentions for the coming semester

Welcome back to Jeremi and Luca’s Newsletter, a weekly update from two friends connected by a relentless desire to learn.

Enjoy a closer look at what we’re reading, working on, and thinking about—from the small learnings to the large perspective shifts.

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Jeremi: Multiple Passes

Something I’ve come to appreciate over my first two years in college is the value of taking multiple passes at something. That is, re-learning certain topics or concepts multiple times in different contexts.

The best example I can give is in electrical engineering.

I first touched an Arduino and breadboard four years ago at a summer camp in Boston.

An Arduino is a microcontroller (a very simple computer) which you can use along with a breadboard to create basic electrical circuits.

Everything was unintuitive. Rows on a breadboard didn’t really make sense; I didn’t know what connected horizontally versus vertically. I learned a few things by the end of the camp, but I knew my knowledge would fade very quickly.

In an engineering class my senior year, I picked back up the Arduino and breadboard to design more circuits. I built pretty much the exact same circuits I did the first time.

I didn’t learn anything new in this class, but it solidified my understanding of what was going on (a lot of which I had forgotten), and I began to feel more comfortable building these simple circuits.

In my second quarter of college, I had another class on building basic circuits. But this one was more project-based, and we learned how to interface with slightly more complex electrical components—creating digital clocks and using accelerometers.

Why do I give this history?

The point is, each class had a significant amount of overlap with previous classes. I’ve gone over the basics of designing circuits enough times that the fundamentals have been ingrained in my memory.

But building these circuits over and over again has allowed me to grow comfortable with the world in which I am operating. How to analyze problems, fix them; how to take an idea in my head and implement it physically.

In my first weekly lab of the quarter last Tuesday, I was able to truly appreciate that. We analyzed different variations of transistors (the electrical component which is the backbone of all modern computing).

The point of the lab was to characterize these different transistors that we had implemented and see which ones were the “best” in terms of how accurately they acted as an electrical switch.

The part we didn’t need to focus as much on was the actual building of the circuit. My lab partners and I were well accustomed to what we were doing. We were able to comfortably troubleshoot the issues we had, and record and visualize the data we were looking for.

In any previous class, I think my focus would have been pulled into just trying to get the circuit to work. I would’ve been confused, unable to figure out why it wasn’t working, and I would’ve lost the forest for the trees.

But because I’ve grown a lot more comfortable building circuits, I didn’t get distracted by the implementation details. Instead, I focused my attention on understanding why some transistors performed better than others, and what the implications of this were.

This has made me more appreciative of other areas where I might need multiple passes. I used to feel frustrated when I would learn a new skill or topic, only to slowly forget what I had learned (as I wouldn’t use it in my day-to-day).

The truth is, if it’s important to me, then it’s valuable to do multiple passes. I don’t mind learning something at a more shallow level, and revisiting the concepts later. I actually think it helps me integrate the lessons better.

The next time around, I won’t be quite so distracted by understanding how things work, and can focus just a little more on why they work and why we should care.

Highlight of the week: a birthday picnic by the ocean

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Luca: People Semester

School starts back up this coming Tuesday. As that day has approached, I’ve thought about how past semesters have been somewhat thematic and, following that, which themes I want to emphasize this spring.

I think I’ll write more about this in the coming weeks, but one hypothesis I’ve had is that this semester will be my “People Semester”—focused, as intently as possible, on the people around me and my relations with them.

This past week has unintentionally served as a thematic segue and non-exhaustive list of five principles I’ll want to follow during the People Semester.

1. Spontaneity

A last-minute request to drive my older sister to the airport was improved by similarly last-minute breakfast plans with Hunter, a good Berkeley friend who lives near SFO. Spontaneity is a trait I may lack due to habitual planning, but I recognize many benefits and thus want to have more of it.

2. Intentionality

My little sister and I visited one set of grandparents for dinner this past week, and I took my other grandmother out to lunch. For various reasons, these are examples of events that cannot necessarily happen spontaneously—thus requiring intentionality.

3. Learning

Later in the week, I had breakfast with my dad and his longtime friend who used to teach English at a local high school. An engaging discussion about moral values and their portrayal in literary forms factors from the Bible to Shakespeare to Star Wars showed a crucial element of the People Semester: learning, thinking, and growing.

4. Challenge

Jacob and I spent a portion of the week planning the coming months and how to challenge each other to work harder and be better. I called this principle “challenge,” but “accountability” would hold just as well.

5. Adventure

My girlfriend visited Marin for a few days which consisted of hiking, biking, kayaking, and some discussion of more hang gliding this semester. Without much explanation needed here, adventure (in all its forms) must persist.

Kayaking with Caroline and Jacob