The Third Quarter of 2026
When I wrote about the second quarter in early July, I closed it hoping the next two quarters would be better. It is early November now, so I missed the usual time for this one. July, August, and September are already over, and they took longer to write down than the other two. The three months were a long wait. A lot of that time I was trying to settle in. People around me do not talk about that much.
School was off for the summer. I spent the break exploring, meeting new people, and looking for things I could work on with them. I was still trying to land an internship, and for some reason I could not. It is fine. It felt like a challenge, and I enjoyed that along with the rest of the summer. I was not free any week. I was going out, meeting people, attending hackathons, and starting collaborations I am not ready to name, because I still do not know what they will turn into.
I worked on a project through the whole summer. I am not going to say what it is yet. It will be out when I can actually describe it.
For most of the six months before this quarter, something would feel like it was about to go my way, and then it would not. Around the middle of July, maybe toward the end of the month, things were still slow, and they were going my way. I am glad I got to do meaningful work with people again.
Five Days#
I was set to move into a room, and five days before I was supposed to be there I found out the room had been given to someone else. I had five days to find a new place. I found one. It costs a little more than I expected, and I can manage it. The room is bigger. I am closer to school than I was, and closer to the train, so the walk is much shorter. It took me a while to adjust. I like it now. Finding it in five days was the stressful part.
September#
Summer break ended in the last weeks of August, and the semester started. I picked up new subjects, and I met new people because everyone was back. I have more friends than I had before the summer. That was a bonus. I started working as a course assistant. Between classes, the assistant work, the hackathons, and the people I was already seeing, I got into a zone. There had been a lot of uncertainty before that. In September I placed second at the Everesteer Hedge Fund Hackathon. There were other hackathons on the weekends around it.
A Few Friends#
I have a few close friends, the kind I can count on my fingers. I stay busy. I do not push people away, but I also do not put in the effort to make someone stay. That is on me. It is how I have been. The friends who are still here are closer to me now, and I am glad they are.
Looking Ahead#
When I wrote about the first quarter, and again in July, I was hoping it would be all right. The third quarter gave me signs that it is going to be. Things are progressing. I hope the momentum holds for the rest of this year and the next one, because I need it to.
And honestly, I think it will be alright for me.