This interview was done remotely due to COVID-19 precautions.

What have you enjoyed most about COVID-19 precautions and social distancing? 

“Every day has become a blank slate at this point. There’s a lot of time to do stuff… which basically means more chances to force myself to do something productive. Not that I’ve actually done much. But I really like this increased potential of productivity.”

What is the worst part of COVID-19 precautions and social distancing? 

“Personally, I feel for all of those who’ve had potential lifetime milestones wiped out by this pandemic. Reading about missing final days of high school, final concerts, final anythings is quite heartbreaking.”

How have you been keeping yourself busy? 

“Now that spring sports have sadly been canceled, it’s onto the fall. With that comes a training cycle of trail running and laziness. Aside from that, I’ve been grinding math, piano, and violin, and convincing myself that I’m actually improving. Pretending AP exams aren’t in under three weeks.”

What predictions, hopes or fears do you have?

“I’m worried that the next year school year won’t be able to begin normally (this is looking ever-increasingly inevitable). Every year, I use the first day of school as a model for every subsequent day… but with the “new normal” here, everything’s murky. As for hopes, I hope that we can all use this time to reflect and improve upon our lives, and that’ll we’ll come out of this dark time as a better society.”

Any book recommendations?

“I’d highly recommend David Quammen’s Spillover for anyone who wants to get educated on zoonotic diseases such as the one caused by the novel coronavirus. Typical science nerd stuff. I can’t believe I read it before this all started.”