Hi 👋 I'm Amy!
A 15-year-old from Toronto, Canada 🇨🇦 (where we ride polar bears and skate with penguins 🐧).
This summer I was your average #quaranteenager. I was bored, stuck at home, wasting my time on youtube 🎬. I attended a few classes and started a student organization but that was about it. My life was comfortable... but unfulfilling.
What it lacked was a clear purpose and value.
Then, at the start of September, I joined a program called The Knowledge Society (TKS) -- a human accelerator.
Those words couldn't be more true.
Read on to learn about my September adventure! 🗓
Week 1:
Landed successfully on TKS's Slack
Moonwalked 🌕around and noticed that: what the- all the inhabitants here are SO ACCOMPLISHED!
Stood there in shock for a few moments 🤯
Week 2:
Was overwhelmed, self-esteem went down a drop tower, felt really cold inside no matter how many hoodies I put on ❄️
Was questioning my decision to join TKS, would I really be able to succeed in this suffocating environment?
Week 3:
Talked to some people, felt a bit less alone on this new planet
Learned a LOT from weekly sessions
Hearing "TKS is not about competition" was the moment I understood the true purpose of the program
Week 4 Preface
Before TKS, I was a bit lost in this world. I constantly compared myself to others, feeling negative emotions when I saw their successes and achievements. I felt self-pressured to be like them, to do what they did. It was tiring and unfulfilling because no matter how hard I tried, I would never be able to be anyone but myself.
TKS changed that. I discovered things I was genuinely interested in. The supportive environment there helped me understand that everyone's different and we all grow differently.
Then a chain reaction occurred: motivation 📈-->productivity 📈-->self-confidence 📈
Week 4:
Life-changing week!
Felt POWERED UP and excited to do what I love doing ⚡️
Mindset of the week: so much I want to do but so little time!
REFLECTION
Looking back, my September journey was actually quite similar to something you all have experienced before: waking up
During the summer, I was in a deep sleep 💤. Time flowed around me. I was comfortable but unaware of all the awesome opportunities for self-growth I had (ex. the fricking internet!).
When I first joined the TKS fam and saw what others just like me were doing, it was like I *woke up*. It was uncomfortable. Like your-alarm-clock-kidnapping-you-from-dreamland uncomfortable ⏰.
However, waking up was the only way to experience the many great opportunities that lay in the day ahead.
After my awakening, it felt like the sky became a lot higher. I realized that there was so much more I could be capable of.
Aand now, I'm fully awake. Ready to shoot for the stars ✨and give the days ahead of me all I've got!
Feeling Unmotivated?
Here are some tips to sprinkle 🧁some excitement into your every day:
1. Try new things. We all know that repeating the same thing over and over is boring. Doing something you've never done before will make your days a lot more colourful 🌈.
Some ideas to get you going: explore a part of your neighbourhood you've never been to before, write a story/poetry, try out an interesting recipe! 🥧
2. Be intentional with your time. At the start of every day, make a list of goals you want to achieve throughout the day. Write it down/ send it to your friends to keep yourself accountable!
Pro tip: Having 1 main focus for every day will get you "in the zone" and be a lot more productive 🧠
3. Go down a knowledge rabbit hole. Find something you're curious about and spend some quality time watching interesting videos/ reading interestingarticles about it.
If you feel excited enough, share what you learned with the world! 🌎Write an article, film a video, create art, the only limit is your imagination!
Cool things I did this month 😎:
Hosted a webinar with industry professionals
My student-led organization ANAYA invited a cardiac surgeon, professor of Epidemiology, and Harvard graduate (now law clerk) to talk about their life stories, research findings and how COVID-19 impacted their respective fields of study. Super engaging and education! Find a summary of our webinar here:
Competed in a business case competition
Participated in the Tiger Global Case Competition (and it was super legit). My team and I learned so much while forming a global expansion plan for this rising drone company. We even got to analyze finances with a JD/MBA student! Find my team's slide deck here:
Attended a s̶l̶e̶e̶p̶o̶v̶e̶r̶ hackathon at MIT!
Well... not really. HackMIT was virtual this year so my friends and I didn't actually travel all the way to Massachusetts. For our hack, we worked with our mentor from India to create a medical tracker app prototype. I entered the hackathon knowing absolutely nothing about HTML, CSS, etc. but came out of it able to make the front-end of a website! (and very sleep-deprived)
Here's some 🔥 to get you through the next month:
Click the following buttons if the embed is not working:
Thanks for reading. Have a great day!
Connect with me on twitter.