Journal
Essays, thoughts, and explorations.
Notes from India on the ritual of roadside chai, the economics of a 10-rupee cup, and how I developed a caffeine dependency one paper cup at a time.
Every train station, every street corner, every moment of pause—there was chai. Little paper cups for 10 rupees. I couldn't pass one without stopping.
Read moreA data-driven analysis of declining fertility rates examining the economic and structural factors behind changing family formation patterns.
Declining fertility is a rational collective response to structural constraints. The data points to housing, childcare, and economic precarity—not individual preferences—as the primary drivers.
Read moreA data-driven response to a debate about declining birth rates. Argues that low fertility is a symptom of structural failure—not the disease—and that policy should prioritize existing lives over incentivizing births into broken systems.
Declining fertility is a rational collective response to structural failure. Fix housing. Fix childcare. Fix maternal health. Fertility outcomes follow.
Read moreWritten after visiting the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum during a trip to Japan. An attempt to process the emotional weight of the experience and articulate what it meant for how I want to live.
It's not enough to feel moved by history. You have a responsibility to live differently because of it.
Read moreFinal essay for States, Markets, and Bodies at UChicago—a sociology course exploring how marginalized narratives are expressed through art and literature. Draws on works by Laurence Ralph, Michelle Alexander, Robert Vargas, and James Baldwin to examine the 'violence' of storytelling as a means of survival and resistance.
On narrative, violence, and the poetics of marginalized stories.
Read moreMBA application essay responding to 'What matters most to you and why?' Explores how running became a source of control, discipline, and belief in possibility—especially given a childhood defined by instability.
Running is the one place where there is no luck, no shortcuts, and no one else to blame. The result is yours alone.
Read moreMBA application essay responding to 'Describe a significant commitment you've made.' Focuses on running as a metaphor for resilience, and how the discipline of marathon training helped overcome a childhood marked by instability.
At mile 20 of a marathon, your body wants to stop and your mind will urge you to quit. What brings the race back into focus is the record of what I've already done.
Read moreMBA application essay responding to a prompt about leadership or teamwork. Explores how creating office birthday traditions built trust and culture that carried the team through high-stakes, high-pressure work.
How much effort you put into engaging with your team dictates how well you weather the tough moments.
Read moreAn analytical essay exploring why modern housing developments all look the same. Argues that aesthetic uniformity is not a failure of imagination but a predictable outcome of financialized development, regulatory constraints, and racialized market dynamics.
Why all new buildings look the same—and what it reveals about capital, race, and urban change.
Read moreOn living
Quotes from How I Met Your Mother.
“If you're looking for the word that means caring about someone beyond all rationality and wanting them to have everything they want, no matter how much it destroys you, it's love.”
“You can ask the universe for signs all you want, but ultimately we will only see what we want to see when we are ready to see it.”
“You will be shocked when you discover how easy it is in life to part ways with people forever. That's why when you find someone you want to keep around, you do something about it.”
“You can't cling to the past kids, no matter how tightly you hold on… it's already gone.”
“Sometimes things have to fall apart to make way for better things.”
“Because sometimes even if you know how something's gonna end, that doesn't mean you can't enjoy the ride.”
“The future is scary, but you can't just run back to the past because it's familiar. Yes, it's tempting, but it's a mistake.”
“If you're not scared, you're not taking a chance, and if you're not taking a chance, then what the hell are you doing?”