am

very happy

I really am.

Last week you got a glimpse of chaotic me.

This week I’m frickin’ doing amazing.

And when I say that, I mean mentally.

This past week I tried to work on stuff.

Correction: I failed to work on stuff.

The stuff I failed to work on was learning Machine Learning, working on my personal statement, and finishing my summer assignments in a timely manner.

So ya might be thinking what the heck is this kid doing being happy and all???

It’s because while I failed at working on “I have no life stuff,” I succeeded on the “I have a life” portion of my workload.

Keep in mind I think I’m a funny guy, so the above is written in a joking manner.

Pls don’t attack me ;)

Okay so what the heck is the “I have a life” portion of your workload Ariv?

I’m glad you asked, my nonexistent friend.

It was (re)building friendships.

It was (re)uniting with people like Elisa, Veda, Mesha, Anakha, Aditya, Karthik, Anmol, Anish, Ayushi, Aditi, Poorna, Nupur, and my new friend Ritwik to hike the hills, run seven miles, celebrate on a yacht, and fill each other in on our life, the latter being more colloquially known as “spill the tea”.

If you’re freaked out by the amount of people I met, I hope I can satiate you by telling you I’m an ENFP, and apparently, we love our friendships.

And if this week did anything, it confirmed for me how much I did.

If you know me well, you know how much I treasure good conversations. You know how much I treasure people. You know how much I treasure you.

I learnt this week that it’s not just I who treasure my friends…

My friends treasure me too.

And look, this wasn’t a life changing revelation, since friendships generally go both ways.

But I seriously am floored by the amount of gratitude I never knew people had for me.

He told me how much he valued me, they asked me for advice, and she wanted me to MC that yacht party because she thought I’d be perfect.

THIS ALL HAPPENED THIS WEEK.

I’m a proud supporter of showcasing your appreciation, being vulnerable, and being you.

I got to experience all of that and more with people this week.

I shared experiences I didn’t know I’d ever share with people, made new friends I never knew I’d make, and realized one huge thing.

I’m a whole lot happier when I’m with you.

And you know who you are.

Regardless of how much work I don’t finish, how many hours of time I “lose,” and how many tests I forget to study fo- okay maybe not that last part ;), my life, my mind, and my soul are at peace when I have experiences with you.

I’ve made clear my priorities this summer were meeting as many and everyone I wanted to meet and catch up with.

I’ve exceeded that metric, and more.

So as summer comes to a close, I’ll say this.

It was the best summer I’ve ever had.

And it’s not because of an internship I never had, it’s not because of a summer program that was grossly overpriced, and it’s not because of all the time I “wasted” being overwhelmed and freaked out.

Summer rocked because I had you.

While my prioritizing sharing experiences with incredible people was summer contingent, I don’t plan on stopping soon.

I’ve realized that I succeed when I’m happy, and I’m happy when I’m with people. When I’m outside, when I’m enjoying, when I am “wasting time,” as a part of me would have said some time forever ago.

So I’m gonna keep it up.

Especially in a time where I will be tested mentally.

I’m gonna say this once, and I’m gonna keep saying this again and again.

Let’s make college apps fun.

And if you’re not convinced, think this over with me.

I wrote this in high school text language to make it as simple as possible :)

What life am I applying to college with?
One I’m happy with, or one that I want more out of?
Why apply to college, if I can’t even live my life today?
So hold up.
I should kinda go and live my life now.

“So I’m convinced, now what?”

Now you go out and see the world in a different way.

You see the world as a place for you to live your life.

A place to seek happiness.

A place where contentment isn’t success contingent.

A place where you can just be.

So come live with me.

Because why not?