2023

Part I: Looking backwards

2022 was a great year for me. It might have been the best year of my life so far. It was my first calendar year working solely on my PhD. I probably lived in Cambridge for more weeks than ever before. Beyond the UK and Spain, this year, I have been to Portugal, the US, Finland, and Germany. I read 53 books, meeting my new year’s resolution for 2022 to read a book per week (on average). And some were outstanding. I settled into my PhD: socially, and later, professionally. It was the first year of my life without exams. I wrote a preprint. I learnt a lot from teaching undergraduates, and most of what I learnt wasn’t maths. I struggle to describe in words how exciting I find my research area. Rowing has given me a family away from home, and a lot of fun. I can’t wait for what’s coming. I got into running during the spring. I ran a Half Marathon in the summer (in Helsinki). I said goodbye to the year yesterday evening with a 10k race in the streets of Madrid. And my well-being has never been better than it is.

Part II: Looking forwards

I am not making a list of resolutions for 2023: I didn’t meet all of my resolutions for 2022, but I am actually glad I didn’t! It would have been a bad use of my time and energy. However, I am not expecting many changes for myself in 2023. I mostly just want to keep things as they are now. I will most likely not read as many books this year, but maybe more fiction. I definitely will want to go sub-1hour at the San Silvestre next year (my official time yesterday was 1h 1min 26s). And I want to row a sub-8min 2k on the erg, sooner rather than later. But overall, I just want to keep learning. Both rowing and running have taught me the importance of going slow and steady to be able to go fast. And that’s what I want. To keep going steady, without burning out.

I haven’t written here in a while, and I don’t promise to write more in the new year. This blog is not nearly in my top five priorities, and I think there’s some truth to the 25-5 rule. I enjoy writing here, and it’s good practice for academic writing, but I don’t want it to feel like a chore. Unlike years ago, writing is now part of my job (as a researcher). I want to save my best words for my papers, so you may not see me here for a while.

Happy 2023