Summer 2025
Phew!
Heya! This newsletter has been long overdue. A lot has happened, some happy things, some not so much but packed with learning opportunities. Enjoy the read :)

Here’s where I’ve been since last writing:
(April) Raleigh/Durham → Boston → RDU → (May) Raleigh/Durham → San Francisco → Vancouver → Boston → Vancouver → (June) San Francisco → Vancouver → (July) Boston → (August) San Francisco → (soon) Vancouver → Raleigh/Durham
🙂 All the things I’m proud of myself for (Summarized)
Those who are close know that I love complimenting others, but have a hard time feeling proud of myself. So here it is:
I moved out of Duke on my own with two oversized suitcases, which I had to re-check through security at my connection.
I called the organizer of a conference and hustled my way into a ticket (otherwise costs $4000) for SynBioBeta.
I hosted a hackathon with some girls who isolated me and treated me condescendingly—likely because (a) I’m a few years younger, and (b) I don’t go to MIT.
I hustled a research position at Griffith’s Group (TLDR: flew to MIT for the PI’s talk, gave her a thank-you card, got serendipitously reconnected) → fell through b/c visa
I moved into my room in Boston in 100-degree weather without air conditioning with ~25 sq feet functional room—with help from my best friend.
I wanted to be mentored by a PhD student, so I would work 6PM-12AM every day after my 9AM-6PM internship for two weeks and made a video explaining her most recent paper and built a project based on it. → The hustle didn’t work out, and I didn’t land the position.
For full list here.
😳 You’re goofy, Amy…
When I crash at a friend’s place, I usually fill up their fridge before I leave as a gesture of thanks. I didn’t realize my friend, Sidd, was vegetarian, so his fridge consists of 90% chicken/beef microwavable meals…
I’m a hopeless romantic. Went on 10 dates over span of 7 days to exposure-therapy out of it (went on one at a particle accelerator).
I got kicked out of MIT buildings 2x for shooting my shots
Found this lil guy on my lawn
Emma and I went on a 10 mile walk at 4AM cause we were both fed up with life
I was buying flowers… then I found this :)
💭 Lessons I learned
#1: You have to shed a layer of skin to grow. Bloody hurts in the peeling, but you always come out stronger.
#1.5: Nothing can kill you unless you let it. Some days will be harder than others, but you must put on a smile and fight through the day.
#2: Money may not buy you happiness. But it buys the ability to be independent, to buy your ticket away from those who hurt you.
#3: Everything happens for a reason. While we can only see what's in front of us, there is always a larger plan at work.
#4: The past and future are relative. Only the present belongs to you.
#5: Everyone has their own share of struggles. You’re not all that special.
#6: The idea of a "soulmate" isn't as rare as you might think. You are likely compatible with 1 in every 4 people you meet.
#7: It’s probably not going to work. But you miss all the shots you don’t take.
“If everything seems under control, you’re not going fast enough” — Mario Andretti
💻 Projects from last while
Became co-director at HackDuke, published my poetry book, wrote a quick paper on QGAN, hosted the first women’s health x AI hackathon at MIT, ran a social experiment, attended two conferences (Synbiobeta, YC AI Startup School), interned at Massachusetts General Hospital, got $1k grant from Afore.





I love you !!! Fav roomie
go amy go!