February 2026
As I write this, I am a tech content creator with 25k followers on Instagram, 10k followers on LinkedIn, incoming Software Engineer Intern at LinkedIn this summer, and a student at Purdue University.
But if I never played competitive ice hockey, I wouldn't have become ambitious. And if I was never ambitious, I wouldn't have cared about quitting ice hockey. And if I never cared about ice hockey, I wouldn't have become depressed.
Quitting competitive ice hockey was the start to a long spiral of miscomings
I was spoiled, unhealthy, and stupid (slept during online class + missed assignments). I dug a hole so deep that I had pushed myself out of the running for nearly all T50 universities by the end of my high school freshman year.
I had a 1.7 GPA, no extracurriculars, no friends, and the one thing that made me special (ice hockey) was gone.
But if I never played ice hockey, I would've never known what it meant to be ambitious. I would've never known what it meant to believe in a comeback. When the scoreboard is stacked against you, when the opponent is ranked 10 spots above you, when you are down 5 goals, giving up isn't a choice. That 5 hour drive your parents took off work to be there for you. The only choice you have is to push through.
So I decided to work hard. I killed my ego and looked up to my own classmates as role models. I started to listen to my parents' words from years ago like ghosts of the past guiding me on what to do. I looked towards myself to be creative, follow my heart, and work hard.
In the remaining years of my high school career
Until I got into a T20 University for computer science.
But I wasn't done. Purdue University was just a stepping stone to survivability (getting a job).
So in one of the worst job markets computer science majors had ever seen, I continued to shoot for more
And the rest has been history
But if I never quit my competitive ice hockey dreams, if I never went through the pain of being alone, if I never went through the struggle of being judged for who I am, if I never had that experience, I would've never become the person who I am today.
My life is a story of someone who fell complacent once, and was never complacent again. My life is a story that is still being written in every move I make today.
But to move forward from the moment you think you will always regret
You need to understand that those moments are where you'll grow the most.
You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.
~ Steve Jobs