Hello fellow learn-it-all!
Greetings from Chicago 👋
We had an 88 weekend here. What's that mean? Friday, Saturday AND Sunday it was 88 degrees outside. All I have to say is:
If you are new here or missed last week's edition, you can catch up on the past letters here. If you are reading this for the first time, I’d love you to sign up below to join the other learn-it-alls:
I'm keeping this letter shorter than normal as I've been juggling a few extra balls than usual lately.
Now, let’s dive into letter 63 from a learn-it-all. Enjoy!
🏖 Waikiki Life Update
I'm dipping out of my lease in Chicago a bit early because I have accepted a new job working for a company called iXperience. I'm going to be acting as the operations and community manager for their college study abroad program. The mission of the company is to build transformational learning experiences that close the current education system gap and prepares students for the future of work.
The contract is signed, the flight is booked and some new sunnies have been bought, yet this still doesn’t feel like real life. I’ve been wanting to work for this company since last summer when I first applied (and got rejected) after reading my friend Salman’s piece on Teaching in Paradise.
Nevertheless, it's becoming bittersweet as I close this chapter on living in Chicago these past two years. Summertime in Chicago truly is gorgeous. Though I've been comfortable here, and I don't know when another opportunity like this will come around. Adventure is calling me.
On the flip side, I still have yet to finalize my housing there, so if you have any connections in the Honolulu area please let me know!
👩🏻🏫 On Deck Course Creator Fellowship
As I mentioned in last week's letter I will be presenting my capstone this Thursday from 1:45pm-2:45pm CST on the Art of Journaling. You can have free access to the three day Learning Conference through this link and I would love for you to attend!
I'll specifically be sharing about the benefits of creating a journaling practice to increase your wellbeing. This is a topic I am deeply passionate about as my daily journaling practice over these past two years has transformed my life and been the driving force behind the writer I am today and these letters I've written the past year or so.
I plan to make it more engaging and I’d appreciate your support if you can make it as I'd love to see some learn-it-alls :)
🖊 Writing
I wrote this letter to my 10-year-old self last fall. It's kind of goofy because it feels like that is a totally different person than who I am today. That's the thing with personal growth– it never feels like it's there until hindsight bias.
This is just one of the many reasons that I enjoy journaling. So much of life is qualitative data that is left fully up to our own fleeting ephemeral thoughts and feelings. Noticing that and taking note is the closest thing we have to time travel. As my writing teacher David Perell shared, it is rebellion against the entropy of memory.
Here's the beginning of the letter:
Dear 10-year-old Jen,
It has been 14 years since I have seen you last. I miss you.
I know I viewed you as not anything special. You were below average height and weight. A twiggy, blade of grass. A meek dancer. A perfectionist student. An above average swimmer. An inclusive friend. A timid sailor. A defensive soccer player. A dull pianist. A mourning granddaughter. A noob journaler.
Despite all this, I miss your frivolousness. It felt so freeing.
🎬 Watching
Lately I've found my self watching two of my favorite surfing movies on repeat: Blue Crush and Soul Surfer. I'm such a fan that I went and bought Bethany Hamilton's online course (to be continued). Talk about a fan girl. I get goosebumps every time I watch it.
I got so interested in how to survive wild animal attacks my junior year of high school. It was the first time I ever laughed while reading a book (without pictures) reading Bill Bryson's Walk in the Woods hiking the Appalachian trail. Mr. Cox was an angel in disguise because school projects didn't have a bunch of rules. he gave us freedom to follow whatever we wanted.
The five biggest things I still remember from my months of research on wild animal attacks:
- Don't climb trees if you see a black bear
- Outrun your friend if you see brown bear
- Don't ever risk seeing a polar bear–– your chances of survival are slim
- Don't splash if you see a shark
- Don't look wolves straight in the eyes because that's a threat
Anyways, I need to expand my horizons of what I’ve been watching. If you have any favorite movies that involve surfing or Hawaii, I'd love to watch them. Send them my way!
🔎 Word to define
Posterity: all future generations of people, the descendants of a person. Succeeding generations; future times
Etymology: from Old French in the 14th Century posterité and from Latin posteritatem meaning future time; after-generation, offspring more literally the condition of coming after.
Example: Someone who is a short-term thinker would not be factoring in posterity.
🌟 Quote to inspire
"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all." -Helen Keller
❓ Question to think about
What has been giving you energy this week? How can you engaged in that activity more often?
📷 Photo of the Week
I saw some family friends that I hadn’t seen since 2019. We met when we were in diapers and are thankful to be in each other's lives today. Each year our families exchange dozens of cookies in Michigan before Christmas each year. I always end up making peanut butter blossoms with my mom and sister. Wowzer they’re delish. It’s always a hoot.
It’s crazy that that annual meetup can let me feel like I know these folks pretty well. A lot can change in a year but when you know someone from a young age, the differences don’t seem as drastic.
🙏 Shoutouts
- To Reddy for sharing these meanings hidden behind birds. No wonder flamingoes were my favorite growing up ❤️
- To Gwyn Wansbrough for being instrumental in helping me constraining all my interests around journaling for my 1 hour capstone
- To the newsletter mastermind I joined led by Nate Kadlac through the Ness Labs Community
- To Naseem Malik for sharing the word to define with me as he explained why he'd start a journaling practice for his grandkids
- To my brother Mitch for finishing his CFA level 3 exam and finally not spending his weekends studying
I appreciate you reading this! If certain ideas resonated or you have feedback to improve my future newsletters, I’d love you to leave a comment, reply to this email, or send me a message on Twitter @JenVermet. If you want to learn more about who I am, I welcome you to visit my online home.
Never stop learning 😁
Until next week,
Jen
💭 Footnotes
- How do you overcome the sunk-cost fallacy and feelings of guilt for all the time you invested in an endeavor that you are abandoning? (Tweet)
- How can distribution be more enjoyable per Steph Smith's advice to me from the fireside chat I attended
- Two years ago, I went to New York City for the first time and was so scared. The more scary things I do, the braver I can become.
- Hawaii the only American state to have two official languages. What Hawaiian phrases are best to learn before arriving in Waikiki to Hawaiians?
If you’re reading this because someone shared this newsletter with you or you clicked a link somewhere, welcome! I’d love it if you subscribed below to receive future updates:
