Nature vs. Nurture

Jeremi spends time in nature; Luca nurtures his passions

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: Technology Detox

With nothing but a backpack, a sleeping bag, and an appetite for adventure, I jumped on a ferry to San Francisco.

I met a college friend, an acquaintance, and two strangers, and we were off to Yosemite National Park to visit a mutual friend.

We climbed waterfalls, jumped off rocks, cleaned dishes for a family camp, read in the sun, and just enjoyed two days fully immersed in nature. After spending my summer working on a supercomputer, I was eager to get off the grid and unwind.

I was struck by how many memories I was able to fit in such a short time period.

While I learned a lot at my internship, the days often blurred together into a routine. I have a vivid memory of the arc of my project at Livermore. But in terms of what I physically did, I can only hazily say that I sat at my desk all day, with little variation across eight weeks.

Of course this is not entirely true, but the memorable experiences I do have from the lab were once every few days, not once every few hours.

Throughout this summer, I’ve also spent more time on my phone than I would like. It doesn’t help my feeling of routine when I go on my phone after work.

What Yosemite reminded me of, was the need to be present in the physical world. Extended time working on a computer, coupled with a bad habit of pulling out my phone during a quiet moment alone, had disconnected me.

Being surrounded by tall mountains and sprawling forests, I was forced to reconnect with that physical sense, to be reminded of the real world that I live in. It slows down my thoughts and grounds me.

A fun practice I’m picking up to this end: every minute above one hour of screen time per day, is a push-up at the end of the day. I’d rather spend that free moment alone in the real world than in the virtual one.

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Luca: Passion Project

On Wednesday afternoon, I embarked on my final humid trek from the Department of Commerce to my apartment near George Washington University. Having logged off my computer, said my goodbyes, and turned in my keycard, my internship was officially over.

When I flew into the Oakland International Airport on Thursday afternoon, it felt extremely strange to be back in California, only a week away from starting my second year at Berkeley, and having just been in D.C. hours earlier.

I had barely processed the summer when I was off to the races trying to squeeze in every social interaction possible before heading back to school (I left for D.C. before most friends returned home for the summer).

So, Friday was almost suffocatingly busy. But interestingly, two interactions that day clarified something for me: what this summer was all about.

At breakfast with Jacob on Friday morning, we spoke in depth about recent political events, philosophized about what it even means to take a political stance, and placed our bets for the upcoming presidential election.

In the evening, I flew a friend of mine, Jed, down to Half Moon Bay for dinner and a sunset tour of the Bay Area. It felt refreshing to be back in the air after a few months and the views were stunning. Seeing the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, and the Salesforce Tower from the sky never gets old.

You may be wondering how breakfast and a flight clarified anything about my summer. And actually, it’s pretty simple: these last three months could be summed up as a “passion project.”

Talking politics, national security, and current events is something I love to do, especially with close friends like Jacob. Interning in D.C. provided me with extraordinary exposure to these topics and more. If you’ve been keeping up with these newsletters, you’ll know I tried to fully immerse myself in everything D.C. had to offer.

I had the privilege of connecting with a wide range of people—from fellow interns and students to governors and foreign ambassadors. I engaged in fascinating projects, attended countless events across the city, and struck up conversations with anyone willing to talk.

The flight with Jed was a great reminder of my love for aviation. My internship offered me the flexibility to continue pursuing the hackathon project I mentioned in an earlier issue. I was able to attend FlightSimExpo in Las Vegas and EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin—both amazing experiences.

This summer, I had an incredible opportunity for which I’m endlessly grateful: I got to dive into two of my passions with energy and curiosity.

To everyone reading this who I met over the last few months, who made time for me, who helped me out—thank you for making this summer special. I’ve never been a fan of group projects in school, but this passion project was undoubtedly a group effort—and I loved every minute of it.

Flying with Jed over San Rafael, heading toward Half Moon Bay