Levi's 2021 Year in Review

There are two types of Year in Review. One is for a sense of accomplishment so people who’ve helped me and cared about me in the past — for whom I’m grateful — know the what in my life. It’s meant to be concise, and serves as a conversation starter when we catch up next time. The other is for introspection, so that I can reflect on what progress stood out most prominently. This way, those who may want to understand the how can get a glimpse into my thoughts and learnings over the past year.

I’ll begin with the what, which is not presented in any imagined order of merit. What is more, though I wanted to keep the post short, I apologize for giving up on whittling down at some point.

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Knowing that I’d graduate from college in 2021, I decided to focus on three things: building relationships, exploring different ideas, and having fun while it lasts. These broad categories aren’t meant to be prescriptive: “choose fun over the others”, because when faced with a choice I tend to ask: why not both?

Building relationships

• I found going on trips — even a 2-hour hike — offered a novel enough context to get to know people better (and have fun!), so I travelled to 6 states and 20+ cities this year, camped twice, did 20+ hikes (favorite one being Mori Point in California), surfed and kayaked on the coast of Puerto Rico, all in the name of strengthening relationships.

• Communities, old and new, often provide ample grounds for fostering relationships. I was lucky to work on my brainchild, Stanford Product Hub, with some amazing friends (albeit entirely on Zoom). At the same time, A big reason why I joined the Accel Leadership Program was to befriend Ph.D.s and MBAs who I wouldn’t have otherwise met at Stanford. The mantra, “follow the people” also led to my first angel investment through a close friend, and many more to come.

  

• Above is the intro slide I used for my Symbolic Systems departmental graduation event. Graduated with an in-person ceremony with lovely friends and family after experiencing my favorite quarter at Stanford. Late night conversations over wine. Impromptu road trips. Sunrise hike and hot chocolate. As I said in the Yearbook, “relationships of all kind” truly defined my Stanford experience. The photo below was from summer of 2018, shot in Edinburgh. Words appeared in the 2021 yearbook.

  

• As I was about to enter the new grad life, I realized that unlike college, social communities aren’t readily available when you move to a new city as a nobody. I thought business school would provide that shared context to meet people regardless if you end up going or not, so I applied and got accepted into Harvard Business School deferred MBA program, which — given the class profile — means I would have enough adult friends around the world to couchsurf and live a digital nomad life :)

Exploring ideas

• Though technically not ideas, I picked up guitar after a six years of hiatus and learned some flamenco and fingerstyle in the beginning of the year.

• I also tried out golf and pilates to round out the mind & body exploration, but grew the most intellectually through taking the Venerable One’s (Professor March McCall’s) class on Greek Tragedy (learned how to pronounce Tra-goe-dia!).

• Although totally unplanned, I went through my first ever surgery with general anesthesia a week before my birthday party. The recovery period was lightening fast because no one could tell I had a recent surgery at my birthday party. Guess there’s indeed a bright side to every obstacle.

• Took two creative writing classes (I’ll publish some pieces here soon!) in my last quarter, and thoroughly enjoyed pondering over the fusion of history and design (what purpose did the Taj Mahal serve, and what is it known for now?), ethnography and design, or simply, design.

• Was blown away by the vastly understated impact of food on humans exceeding the so-called planetary boundaries (a more nuanced breakdown of the climate crisis) after learning about food and sustainability with Professor Christopher Gardner. From food production (land use, farming/fishing, ruminant animals, transportation) to consumption (what to eat) to food waste, a passing interest now grew into a passion (I spend 20% of my day job building sustainability products for UberEats, stay tuned).

• Started my first job out of college at Uber APM, a two-year rotational program with eight other new grads who share a similar interest in technology and entrepreneurship. Went through an intense two-week bootcamp with fellow classmates, but bonded the most via weekend Napa and Santa Monica trips. Below is a group photo with my APM class and some Class of ‘20s at the end of the bootcamp.

  

• Built products for the Merchant Connection team at UberEats, which builds software for small businesses to reach customers more effectively and authentically. Learned a ton about the challenge of running a restaurant business by visiting popular restaurants like Jack’s Wife Freda in New York and the Melt in SF (spoiler alert, it’s really hard). Below is a photo of me with the founder, Jack, of Jack’s Wife Freda :)

  

• Mentorship was important to me throughout my Stanford journey, so I started mentoring college students for career advice and MBA applications. Donated all the proceeds to Stanford Humanities Center as a thank-you for the education I received (Sorry School of Engineering! You need your famous alumni to thrive more than money).

Having fun

• Decided to get a curly perm early in the year because why not.

• Rented a Tesla Model 3, my first ever car, for five months so I could go on spontaneous trips. Drove a total of 4000+ miles (thanks cruise control!), and received my first speeding ticket while on a memorable first date.

• Went to my first music festival (Lollapalooza) in Chicago with a fellow APM whom I barely knew at the time, but turned out to be an amazing person and housemate :) Made it to Outside Lands in the most unimaginable way (I’ll save the story for another time) and saw Tame Impala sing The Less I Know the Better live.

• Planned a spontaneous trip from San Francisco to San Diego 16 hours in advance, but unfortunately had to drive back by myself in one day (stopped three times for the Tesla to charge). Wouldn’t recommend doing 500+ miles in a day :(

• Almost settled down in New York after a wonderful time visiting in the summer and fall, but ultimately decided to move to San Francisco (where I’m now!), put together a 7-person new grad house with a diverse group of friends from different backgrounds (finance, consulting, tech, you name it).

• Lived in San Francisco with college friends, some of whom I reconnected after being in the same class freshman year, for a month in between graduation and summer adventures. Started hitting the gym under the influence of these buff friends.

• Attended my cousin’s middle school graduation ceremony in California as the self-nominated best photographer at the scene. Seeing the next generation grow up so fast reminded me to carpe diem.

• Reality, however, punched me in the face when I dreamed about the noble ideal of “seize the day”. China’s 28+ day mandatory quarantine rule simply prevented both my aging grandparents (and enthusiastic parents) from attending my own college graduation ceremony and me from visiting them during the last summer break as a student. Maybe that’s a sign there will be next time (did I hear HBS graduation?)

The post on what is now getting too long, so I’ll save the how edition of year in review for another day. Granted, it’s almost February so not sure if there will be one. On the bright side, my procrastination pushed the year in review to the Eve of Chinese New Year, which is another perfect timing. Whether this makes me determined or simply lucky, I could not say (an inability which pushes slightly towards the former). Below is the family New Year Eve dinner photo my mom sent me from China.