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About Me

Hello, readers!

My name is Vivian. I come from the San Francisco Bay Area and I am a student at MIT (2025). I plan to study chemical biology, though I am open to other majors in the biomedical field like computational biology.

I started this blog back in 2019 because I saw blogging as an opportunity to express my thoughts online, which I never did before. I always enjoyed writing down things in my diary as a child and preteen because I didn't like the idea of not writing something and then forgetting the vivid details of the memories. 

I originally named my blog "A Life of a High Schooler," though I felt that the title was pretty lame and generic. My blogs document my everyday life, which includes high school events and musings about random things. I also blog about things that had a big impact on me, like a particular book or podcast or movie.

I chose to name my blog "Reflections and Images" because I used these words as the title for my personal diary. As a fan of Debussy, I love listening to his piano solo called Reflets dan l'eau. In English, it means "reflections in the water." My blogs are personal and require reflecting upon the past and recollecting various images.

You can find my personal essays on The Tech, MIT's newspaper. 

Mission:
I write this blog as a way to inspire others to start journaling and blogging. 

5 Questions:
What is something not a lot of people know about you? 
I have relatives that live in Cambodia. Also, I am technically a dual citizen because I also hold an Australian passport. 

What is a significant challenge that society faces?
In a world surrounded by technology, people are spending less time in solitude. As a result, people are less likely to understand themselves well. Also, it is harder for them to develop creative thinking or structure their thoughts. 

What person, past or present, would you invite to speak? 
As a listener obsessed with This American Life (TAL), I have this question for Ira Glass. "What did you not expect to learn about yourself, the world, and others from your 25-year journey on TAL?"

If you could teach a course, what would it be? 
Digital Minimalism 101. I will guide my peers on how they can declutter their digital life to live deeper and happier lives. We will discuss technology’s effects on society, the mind, and the self. 

What 5 words best describe you?
In search of life's purpose. 


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