A letter from Jul 15, 2025

dear future me, you've just finished your first year phd with a bang - a talk in the netherlands that went quite well, but didn't win any awards :( you're in zurich right now (just landed a week ago) for a visiting scholarship until october, and it's a pretty fun adventure so far, although a little lonely...hope you've made some friends by the end of it esp since you've just made a bumble bff account. currently in a coffee shop writing this. you'll be doing your first alps hike on thursday up into the mountains in uri and staying at a bnb there...pretty remote and pretty scary....hope it goes well. eek! I hope it's beautiful! how did your second year phd go? did you do your second year talk well? how many papers were you able to get out the door? i hope you're at 200 citations lol. i also desperately hope everything with O's internship/visa worked out and that he has a full-time role now...it's crazy in tech right now.... beyond that, you're not worried about your love life at all, hilariously, that's how much you think it's going to work out, so i really hope it does because we'll be on year 4 of our relationship. I hope we're about to move out soon (or we've already moved out), even though I love being at home. did you get an internship for summer? or are you working on research? what about your friends? make any new friends? meet any new people? any wedding invites yet!? best of luck in your second year. you'll absolutely crush it. don't lose sight of what matters - spend time with your family and your loved ones.