Third week as a Visiting Grad student!

This was my Third Friday here

• It’s been wonderful. So why am I writing basically the same thing over and over each week?
• Maybe it’s because a part of me wants to remember that there are really awesome places where one has the freedom and support to just get work done. Places where you walk in each day and people say hi, with a smile, even if they are still waking up and haven’t had coffee yet.
• Places where, when I make a channel that says “Boba, anyone?” people react almost immediately and say that yes, if and when people want to go grab a cup during the day, they will absolutely love to! It feels unreal that people are so nice, friendly, and so focused on work, but also play. I’m really going to miss everyone. It’s just been so much fun!

Some of the things this week

• I worked on projects this week that I have to work on, picked up another one (yay!) and saw some talks this week. I also participated in quite a few reading groups, where the topics are (1) Pseudorandomness, (2) Reed-Muller Codes (3) Insertion Deletion Codes (4) Cryptography. They’re all really interesting!
• We also had a “Meet the Fellows” event where various residents gave talks on recent work (as recent as a few days ago!), and met a special guest who will be in-residence for the next three months (this also warranted special cake!)!
• There is a lot of opportunity for collaboration. There are brainstorming sessions, talks that people give on open problems, and boards all over with open problems that people will try to tackle (of course, since they are open, I will not be posting images of these!)
• I went to a screening for a film on the journey of black mathematicians. The film was so awesome and as someone rightfully said, “is so empowering”. Apparently, it was also shown at JMM, and there are two more parts that will be upcoming; this current film focuses on Maths professors (and students) at HBCUs, and the following one, which should be out for JMM next year (which I personally am looking forward to!) is one that focuses on black students at PWIs, and then there will be more on the individual stories, compiled into something like 70 stories. So it will be extensive, and I’m happy that someone is doing this work. I got to meet the director, George, the cinematographer and the editor, and the director’s wife, Molly. I made some friends with some other filmmakers, who invited me to go figure-drawing with them sometime, and I made a friend who works in tech and is considering grad school. She was a riot and I LOVED chatting with her. It was very chilly that evening, but we stayed outside until her ride arrived. After all, she was literally heading to Sacramento.
• I had coffee with a friend at a coffee shop I have never been to before, which was definitely an experience! Three students gave me the whole run-down on how this is “a happening place”. Thank you for that!
• I also went on a hike! We went to Seaview trail! It was a beautiful day!
• I also got to chat with the Associate Director of the Institute that hosted me, and she is so amazing and inspiring! The one thing that everyone keeps asking me since I’ve arrived is, “when are you finishing up again?”, as though they’re all waiting to put my suitcase in a barren room, which is hilarious. You can see their expression lean to the side, as though it’s something they have to take note of lol. Anyways, It’s definitely given me motivation to keep going!

And some photos

• I have no words! I’ve been told that Fields Medalists have to take Uber or Lyft.

• the light was beautiful today.

• A talk on Skew Polynomials. It was amazing and I highly recommend looking at the paper.

• Our special guest warranted three different types of cake! Apple pie, chocolate and tres leches!

• Notes from Professor Phister at our Reed-Muller reading group this week. He did such a good job explaining the proof!

• There were these roll-up fruit things with animal cards. Apparently I got both the penguin and the wombat, which are awesome but not animals that I grew up with.

• Food from the film screening reception and way too much sugar in the evening!

• The director, George, takes questions after the screening. He reminded me so much that it was such a labour of love for him. The film is so beautifully made.

• From the Simons Laufer Maths institute.

• The director’s wife, Molly, gave me these. She is wonderful, and now I have to see all of these!

• random photo on the way to the lab

• Our first boba social. I met two postdocs who also like boba!

• view from the lab. How can one not be productive with this view?

Hiking photos

In other news

• If you are willing to host me in the Bay area to work on a research project as a visiting PhD student, I honestly, right now, would not say no (with the right conditions, of course!). This definitely has set the bar! I’ve loved every moment!

And that’s it