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Welcome to the deep dive
Today we're doing something a bit different taking a unique plunge and understanding what really shapes a life
You know sometimes the most um profound insights don't come from looking at the big picture
But from tracing one person's journey
Especially when it has surprising twists and our source material for this
It's a wonderfully candid personal al reethat's so this deep dive gives us a really rare um unfilter look at the life and career choices of some of recalling mmonk um so personal perspective on how her decisions unfolded um from a early dreams right up to where she is now
So our mission today is to explonmon's unique path will start way back in high school
Follow her three university
And see how she arrived at her current career as her software engineer in new york city
We want to uncover the were the unexpected reasons behind her choices
Those key moments and the personal philosophes that really guided her
Okay
Let's get into it alright
Setting the scene high school wereninsigiing china
Monkeis a top student science stream seems straight forward right
But here's where it gets really interesting
She wasn't just hit the books
Monk was leading this kind of incredible double life
She was also a national athlete
A national athlete
Yeah
Her daily routine it wasn't just classes
It involved about an hour of pretty tense training before dinner every day day
This wasn't n't a hobby life
She was frequently travelling across the country for competitions
Which meant ultimistely school
Quite a it it that's a lot for a high school
Yeah
Specially balancing with demanding science studies
Exactly it's quite a balancing act during such a contical academic time
It really is so what helpking when you think about that commitment is how it ultimately played out with her college admissions
Monk mentioned she earned a pretty significant twenty point sports bone is on her college entrance exam okay
So that helped her get in while here's a thing it turns out
She would have qualified for her top to her university
Even without it for scores were that good anyway huh
So the bonus wasn't actually
The deciding factor that puts her dedication in a different light
Doesn't it
It really does it wasn't just about getting an edge for college
It seems like something she was deeply committed to for its own sake so reflecting on that what stands out to you about this unique balancing act during such a critical period of her life for me just screams discipline and resresilience
Even back then you know to maintain top grades
While competing nationally that takes an unusual kind of drive
I think i agree makes you wonder
If that early discipline sort of set the stage for later challenges so okay
High school ups up she's facing this huge decision university major given she was a top student
Probably have options
How did monk actually land on her path
So she got into a top university
This is was in two thousand nine and her choice computer science okay and y see us
Her reasons were um surprisingly straight forward of first she said she basically just enjoed playing on computers fair ough
But there was another big factor
She read an article back in high school
About how uh comfortable and nourishing life was at gggle
And that article kind of planted to see the computer science was the way to that kind of life interesting so a mix of personal enjoyment and the sort of aspirational image from google
Exactly
And it wasn't just the major
But the place too
She specifically wanted to go university in a big city
He have for broader horizons
She said to see more of the world
嗯的 好的
That definitely played into her choice make sense
But interestingly her parents we't immediately on board with the cs choice oreal
Yeah
They apparently felt it would be hard
Especially uh for a girl was they're thinking up the time
But to their credit they did come around
They became pretty open minded
Basically telling her okay
If you choose this
You've gota see it through
But is pretty supportive
Ultimately not is supportive
But they had another worry too didn't they is pretty suppthe market
But right monk mentioned they were seeing articles maybe around the time of the financial crisis suggesting things like cs graduates in the us equals unemployment are real concerned understandable given the timing
She mong's perspective on this looking back
But quite powerful
She pointed out that you h eleast eight years after her graduated the cs fielld was actually
The opposite was booming ing
A high demand in high income
As she put it so much
Though that many people were actually trying to switch into coding
That's a fantastic point
Her experience really makes you think doesn't
对
How should you weigh those
Those current job market anxieties for us as your own actual interest we are making these huge educational career shaping decisions so a tough balanence of really tough one well sticking with yes certainly led her down an unexpected padents
Because her university experience
She was a start percent to high school success in those uh comfortable gggle dreams
Okay
Let's unpact this a bit
Ah ah
She describe university life as very tough win t
She called it the most difficult time
She'd faced her life up to that point
Wow
Why so difficult
She was clearly bright
It sounds like the program itself was incredibly intense
She was in a special program
Her words that had immense academic pressure
She said it covered something like eighty ninety percent of the entire cs field compared to me be ten percent for the regular students just a huge workload okay that's pressure
And here's the kicker most of her classmates
They apparently computer competition champions like they came in with serious skills
Mongon the other hand started with literally zero prior program experience
Zero going into that program zero
She
She mentioned getting actual scores of zero on time cocotest sts earon while others just brebreze ed them
The gap must have felt enormous
I can only imagine that sounds incredibly demoralize
And how did she cope well
It wasn't smooth sailing
She actually share that she was almost exspelled from the program at one point apparently for playing too much
Maybe struggling the balance or just overwhelmed
Expelled
But she stayed yeah
They kept her because they saw potentials
She said
And that close call that seemed to be a real turning point
It motivated her in her words to behave herself and really buckled down and study intensely quite the wake up call that's remarkable perseverance
And it's interesting too
You know ththinking about her ackackground
Her athletic career actually ended right before college
She had a foot injury from last high high competition
So she couldn't really do intense exercises during university
No okay
When you think about the discipline
She must have had as a national athlete 没有pushing through tough training competing under pressure amazyou wonder
If that same interstrength that resilience muscles shedready build helped her power through this insane academic challenge that's a really great point like the skills transferred
Even if the activity chain exactly that ability to adapt and just persevere
So after surviving really this incredibly tough university program
是的
好的好的
What came next for month
This leads us to another key moment
Another one of those uh surprising pivots in her story right so initially her choice was to pursue aphd abroad okay academia and her reason
She was very clear about this
When she said it was because of love uh ok a personal motivation
But then came the pivot
And it's quite a story
She decided to quit her computer science phd
During her first year quit the phd d moving abroad for it
Why it started almost accidently so cerindepenously you could say she went to a career fir on campus
And she submitted to resume at one company's booth
But mainly just to get a small free gift
They were giving out ha
嗯 对对对
You'all all that right
But this simple act led an interview the very next day
Then that led to an internship offer
And that ultimately turned into a full time job offer
Which the company gave for a whole year to decide on wow
Often trying to get a freebe
That's amazing isn't
It and this experience this glimpse into the industry
It seems you've coincited with some growing doubts about academia
Yeah
Here's mark t's really interesting mmonk talk about becoming disillusion with academic research
She started finding the work
She saw around her kind of
是的 对的
Meaningless was her word
Meaningless how so she felt it was mostly geared towards you know writing papers and publishing just for the sake of it almost rather than making real breakthghs or genuine contributions to humanity
Which seemed to be what she valued
And today that really helghit's a commentention doesn't it between these sort of ideals of academic pursuit and the pool of real world application or impact
And it also shows real courage
I think to change
When this uninvesting so much in a path like aphd
Especially when this unexpected opportunity just sort of landed in her lap and felt right
Absolutely it takes
Gets papait like that
That after all all chochoices these ld momoathlete to struggling student phd candidate to industry recruit where in monmananda
What does her life look like now well she took that job offer
And today she's a software engineer living in new york city
She works commotely which seems to suit her
And what about that comfortable nourishing life
She dreamed up back when reading about google
She find it
It sounds like it in a runway
She described her work hours as pretty normal
You know starting around one or two pm
Finishing by six or seven pm
Okay
That sounds quite balanced yeah
Leaves her time for other things
Yeah
She mentioned enjoying weekends in nyc
Doing typical city stuff like visiting museum
Seeing flowers in the spring
Just ah lililiin those really acacful ful almost whawhareally powerful is her philosopy about all these choices
All these twists in turns quit monk says she almost reregret her decisions
Never that's quite a statement
Yeah
She sees life as this is a direct quote just experience and adventure
She genuinely believes that regardless of the outoutwhwhether i'm poor or prosperous
They are all valuable experiences
Wow
That's a deeply accepting way to have view things taking the good with the bad seeing value and all of it exactly
And because of that outlook
She said she satisfied with who she is today
She even said she had a time machines
She wouldn't go back
Until her young
Herself to do anything differently amazing
So let's try and symphasize this mononst journey
It's really quite something from that high school athlete scholar
Juggling
Intense training and top academics to facing this huge unexpected struggle in a superchallenging university program
And then making that really bold decision to ditch the ph d for a job
Opportunity that ultimately seems to have provided that comfortable fulfilling life was
Was sort of seeking from the start absolutely her story
I think really underscores the the fludity of life choices
The perhaps aren't always lenineared
What if the real she places on experience itself over percking to some rigid plan and perhaps most deortetely the courage
It takes to adapt to pivoc
When a past just doesn't feel right
Anymore when your interestheir values shift
Yeah
If youels like mon's journey really invites you the listener to consider something you know in a world
That often seems obssessed with optizing every single choice aiming for some perfect predefined out out what if the real rriciness of life isn't found in sticking to perfect ct an what if it lies in embracing those unexpected detors
Those pivots and actually finding the value in every experience
Along the way makes you think doesn't it
