After a ridiculously enjoyable summer of travel (see prior post, and maybe pictures coming to flickr someday) I’ve arrived in Washington, D.C. I’d been told it’s a fun city with a lot of young people around. I was a little worried about the lack of mountains over 10,000 feet. Everything so far has exceeded my […]
I just discovered a map created by NPR in April called Visualizing the U.S. Electric Grid and I think it’s the coolest thing I’ve seen, maybe ever. There’s a few things I’d do differently (scaling of power plant dots, etc.) but it does a far better job of presenting a ton of data than almost […]
I think we’re all familiar with the adage that “Biology is really chemistry, chemistry is really physics, physics is really math (and math is really hard).” That is, to work on biology you have to spend a lot of time understanding the chemistry involved. After taking some finance courses from accounting through derivatives pricing it […]
This spring I’m taking a class called “Organizational Behavior,” which is one of the least engineering-y classes in my program, but so far it’s been about as interesting as it could be — which is really interesting. A question I remember wondering a lot growing up as a math major (and hearing repeatedly from others) […]
I am overwhelmed by the opportunities available within the Stanford community, and by the opportunities offered to us by the neighborhood and those further away. My boss told me a few times that I was crazy to leave a successful company where I was one of the most senior employees — but however much more […]
I haven’t posted about long-term plans in about 6 months because I had to get things in order with my current employer before going public. Now I finally have. On June 21 I start a 1-year Masters of Science degree at Stanford University in Management Science & Engineering. My job here is great and I […]
I was talking to a friend in college who will likely go straight to a PhD after he graduates the other night about life outside of academia, given my 1 year of experience. It made me realize how great business is. For a liberal arts grad it can be scary that there are no guarantees […]
Today is the first day of the rest of my life, as the saying goes, and the first of 365 days of being 24 years old. 24-year-old Tom doesn’t feel very different than 23-year-old Tom. But I have to admit my place in the world has changed dramatically. I haven’t “just graduated from college.” I […]