Welcome back to Jeremi and Luca’s Newsletter, an update every Sunday from two friends connected by a relentless desire to learn.
Luca: Pulling Away
One benefit of getting older is the accompanying growth of opportunity. The number of possible directions to take—things to do, people to know, places to be—is much greater now than it was four years ago.
But a corollary: there are more and more opportunities to choose what not to do.
At the end of last summer, I stepped away from my role at a consulting club to focus more of my energy on the startup I was working on. And just a few months ago, I chose to return to school over leaving to work full time on that same startup.
In some ways, it feels like one of the only projects I’m certain to always be working on is this project of time and energy allocation.
Last month, I wrote about my new summer plans: working in New York City at a startup building AI maintenance and scheduling software for aviation. I started part-time work for the company around then, ramping up before the summer when I’ll be working full-time for about eleven weeks.
But a week ago, I decided to pause that work until I get to New York; I was finding it difficult to add real value while in school. Last semester, I was building a startup and went lighter on courses because of that. This semester, though, I took on a much heavier load of 23 units (Berkeley estimates 3 hours per unit per week).
The part-time work was limiting my ability to put the appropriate amount of time into school (right before finals), and school was similarly deteriorating my ability to perform well at the startup. Putting it on hold was the right decision.
I note this for its own sake, but also because these kinds of decisions are becoming more frequent. I think that’s generally a good thing; more roads necessarily mean more intersections, so to speak. And in that sense, my time is better spent figuring out where to turn—not whether the map has gotten too complex.
Jeremi: Pushing Forward
I’m about to leave for the weekend on a triathlon-turned-camping trip. Our team will be racing in Central California, in the middle of nowhere (Bradley, CA, pop. 81). Hence the camping part. I’ll be racing my longest course ever, a half ironman.
This is definitely a stretch for me to be doing this. While each separate leg (swimming, biking, running) seems reachable, putting them together will be challenging. I’ve never swum this far consecutively (2.1 km), and I’ve never run this far (a half marathon).
But it’s also exactly the type of challenge that drew me to this sport to begin with.
I don’t consider myself a fast triathlete and I don’t think I will ever be. Which is OK! My goal is to do really tough workouts, first thing in the morning. I’m not interested in measuring and optimizing my swim split.
Since speed isn’t really a factor, I think the concept of distance intrigues me. How far can I go? How far can I push myself? It’s not competitive, but it still feels like a fun challenge.
Only one hiccup: on Monday, I started feeling sick.
It’s probably not a good idea to take on this challenge if I’m sick, and so I took my wellness quite seriously. I slept early and slept in. All my symptoms went away, except for a cough that will probably last through the event.
I’ll decide whether to race the morning of the event. I’m leaning towards doing it. Even if I have to go slower (as I said, not really a factor for me), I’d rather pay homage to all the work I’ve put in leading up to this. If not, well, I’ll enjoy the camping!
Jeremi, listen to your body. Always next year. I know you like to challenge yourself!!
As always, proud of you. You to Luca 😊