Summer 2025

Through Columbia’s Work Exemption Program, I’ve had the unique opportunity to spend my 2025 summer working at the Gang Lab in New York.

This summer in hindsight will probably be the inflection point in my life trajectory. It was the most fragmented, yet psychologically rich and soul-defining summers I’ve ever had—one which applied the problem solving skills I learned last summer, to learning more about the world and identifying what role I’d want to play in it.

The following blog posts attempt to distill what I learned over the summer.

• The ICRA retrospective
• An analysis of organizations
• On mechanical keyboards and consumerism
• Dating apps, discipline, and Sisyphus
• Elevated alcoholism
• Systems of cruelty, the ants, and the starlings
• On catsitting, motivation, and responsibility

I am truly grateful for the WEP’s continued support, which made this unforgettable summer possible.