Welcome to my 'now' page! :) This update is from 3 May, 2024.
Let's talk academic updates! I have finally finished my dissertation, which I am going to link here very soon. Now that that's all over, I have fallen into a rhythm of revising in a very disciplined and methodical way. Thank goodness, because I only had six days between my dissertation deadline and my first exam! In particular, I have spent the last 48 hours feverishly revising for my Network Security and Security Testing exams, which both seemed to go pretty well for me. Funnily enough, my Security Testing exam (which was supposed to start at 13:30) started seven minutes late, meaning that I started writing at... 13:37. Coincidence? I think not B)
I have recently begun to write poetry again after a long hiatus (think: five years). This is a great method of processing things and expressing myself. When I write journal entries, things can get very stream-of-consciousness or turn into a venting session. This means that I have journals full of writing that is not necessarily useful to me at a later date. I also don't have much interest in writing a daily journal entry that is more straightforward. It conjures up ideas of 'Dear Diary, today I ate cereal and did some studying and went to the gym,' etc. etc. In contrast, when I write poetry, it is a great way of expressing and processing my thoughts because every word is intentional. If it is a good enough poem, when I go back to it later, I am able to re-experience these thoughts and review them. I can re-examine my thoughts and evaluate them.
Anyways, outside of using poems as a tool, I also like to think of them as art. Not particularly good art, but still! It's nice to create. Here is a link to a poem I wrote in April, titled 'Four Steps for Comprehending'. It was published in Strand Magazine, which is a student-run magazine at King's. If I could have stayed at King's longer, I would have liked to write articles for them. But you can't do every single thing you want to do at university, right? I am generally glad that I chose what I chose. Maybe I could write a poem about that.
It feels a little strange writing updates or posts on here, still. I can't exactly control who's reading this, and I know where I have and have not yet promoted this website. That means that if anyone is reading this update, it is highly likely that you are a stranger or acquaintance coming from my Linkedin or from a Discord server. Then again, it is likely that no one is reading this.
This aligns with a thought I often have about the Internet. Even if there were one hundred strangers reading this right now, I would probably have no way of knowing (unless they all emailed me and shared their thoughts on my bad poetry). I wouldn't see their faces or their reactions. But if I showed my website to someone in real life, I would see their reaction immediately. They'd have to process and react to my words and my bad poetry in real time. That feels far more vulnerable than sharing my thoughts to one hundred online strangers. I suspect that this is a common feeling, but have no way of confirming it. I don't think this means that I should stop writing on here, though. I think it means that I could be less nervous about sharing my inner thoughts and ideas with the people around me. This could be a fun concept to write about in the future.
No news yet from HKU. But I am starting an IT/Cyber internship soon with Nippon Life Benefits, an American subsidiary of Nippon Life Insurance Company! I am unbelievably excited about it. I have so much to learn!!! I wish I had more time to prepare, but maybe that's part of what all my exam revision is for, haha.
I'll try to keep this site somewhat active over the summer. If anyone is reading this, email me! :)