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The Best College Admissions Advice

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  Image Source:  The Harvard Crimson (The acceptance rates only decline from 2021 onwards, by the way.)  Undergraduate admissions in the United States has grown increasingly complex and competitive in the last decade. This one process encompasses a multibillion dollar college consulting industry, significantly influences the future of society, and governs the lives of millions of high school children. I don’t intend to discuss the college admissions process in its entirety, but I do have some advice to share with children apprehensive about the whole ordeal (as they should be).  Having finished submitting all of my college applications in my senior year, I’ve reflected on these last four years of my life. I’ve experienced triumph, tribulation, happiness, sadness, exasperation, disillusionment, enlightenment, and a bevy of other ineffable emotions. Even if I’m not accepted to all of my reach schools, I’m proud of how I’ve spent the last four years of my life. I made precious friends and
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The Ayanokoji Cult

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Image Source Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, the protagonist of the Classroom of the Elite ( COTE ) light novels and anime, has a cult. He has spawned heated debates on internet forums, videos espousing his philosophies, power scaling edits, and guides for people trying to emulate him. To his worshippers, Ayanokoji represents charisma, intelligence, and power. They admire his displays of power, which include flashy mind games and monologues about society. It’s perfectly fine to obsess over a fictional character or to learn from them, but I worry Koji-stans (those who deify Ayanokoji) fail to view him objectively. This is especially problematic when COTE ’s demographic is young men. Many Koji-stans idolize Kiyotaka’s introverted behavior, social alienation, and lack of empathy. The appeal of Ayanokoji is that many COTE fans can relate to his more superficial characteristics. For example, his peers often underestimate him. Koji-stans may misconstrue their meager social presence as social underestim
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I'm Writing Another Book

I’m not new to storytelling. Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve created innumerable stories. I played out some of my favorites with my toys and my younger brother, weaving narratives from my imagination. The few times I convinced myself to commit my stories to writing, I soon abandoned my work, fearing that it could never reach a satisfactory quality. A few years ago, as I was speaking with a friend about the nature of self-esteem, I envisioned a story about the worth of human life in a nihilistic setting; I later refined this concept after reading Berserk and a webtoon called The Horizon, two works whose themes I saw the need to portray in a modern setting. I outlined some concepts for a story about a hardened mercenary who grows as a person after meeting two orphaned children in his trek across a desolate wasteland, but didn’t write a word of the actual story. I was passionate about the idea, but I struggled to distinguish it from its two major inspirations. I recalled a dream I had
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Better Call Saul: The Art of Objective Communication

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  A few months ago, I finished watching Better Call Sau l. I praise this show endlessly. I’ve consumed countless stories, but Better Call Sau l is one of the few I label a gold standard for storytelling. Most stories make subjective storytelling choices that readers may consider flaws. For example, some One Piece fans dislike Oda’s decision to give Luffy power-ups during battles. Though Better Call Saul is not flawless, it follows objective writing principles, such as show don’t tell, better than any other story I’ve seen. One of the most fascinating ideas Better Call Saul explores is the power of communication. All communication contains inherent assumptions. Recall the times you’ve clarified the meaning of a text message. Chances are, you omitted details necessary for comprehension because of your hidden assumptions. One reason these assumptions appear more commonly in texts than in other communication channels is that body language conveys additional information. For instance, you
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A Critique of Longtermism

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  I recently watched a video about longtermism uploaded by a YouTube channel called Sabine Hossenfelder, which I highly recommend for its objective perspective on scientific news and complex real world issues. Longtermism, as defined in the video, is “the philosophical idea that the long-term future of humanity is way more important than the present.” Longtermists maintain that because the approximately 8 billion living humans are a tiny fraction of the lives that will populate the future, long-term issues are many orders of magnitude more significant than seemingly pressing issues like starvation, which afflict a ‘mere’ few hundred million. Sabine’s video presents longtermist views espoused by technocrats Elon Musk and Peter Thiel in addition to common arguments regarding these ideologies. I want to posit an argument against longtermism as a nonpartisan teenager who is admittedly dissatisfied with the trajectory of human innovation.  Most longtermists contend society should prioritiz
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An Appreciation of Academic Material and A Review of The Art of Computer Programming

I’ve enjoyed reading textbooks for a while now. I first picked up the infamous Campbell Biology in the beginning of 10th grade after being encouraged by a friend to participate in USABO (to his disappointment, I forgot to take the exam despite registering). I had read nonfiction books suitable for the layperson, skimmed news articles, analyzed op-eds, and watched educational YouTube videos, but textbooks and academic publications were new to me. Admittedly, it was difficult to conceptualize Campbell Biology’s many complex concepts as I was unfamiliar with the style and rigor of academic writing. However, by persevering through half of the textbook (I couldn’t bring myself to finish it), I developed a proficiency in comprehending academic material that has continued to reward me. Unlike lay scientific material, academic material is intended for rigorous study. This rigor can only be appreciated as one endeavors to apply concepts delineated within academic material. Consider the way plan
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Existentialism at its Best

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Anyone who knows me or has read my writing knows that I love existential philosophy. I preach about it regularly. In our increasingly complicated world, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and lose a sense of purpose in life. Existentialism is more important now than ever. I consider myself to be abnormal in some ways. Most of us can arbitrarily label ourselves as “abnormal” in some sense of the word, because the idea of normality itself is somewhat arbitrary. Therefore, we each have an idiosyncratic relationship with existentialism.  For as long as I can remember, I have tried to perceive reality as objectively as possible. As a result, I had an obstinately cynical and mundane outlook on life. I was trapped in an education system that failed me. I’ve always loved to learn new things, but school didn’t cut it for me; it was a terribly boring place where I’d listen to my teachers lecture concepts I could easily understand by reading a textbook and subsequently complete tedious chores called a
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