Here is me briefly reflecting on 2024, things that went well, things that did not, things i need to improve on, things that need more prioritization while “letting go” at the same time.

Career. My topmost priority entering into 2024 was to transition to a Research Engineer role from AI Resident. I didn’t have much time left in my residency and needed to either go elsewhere to transition to a new role. I was also very selective about which places i wanted to work at and staying in New York. Luckily the FAIR offer helped meet both of my requirements which in turn helped me get an offer from GenAI (current team). I have significantly picked up more important roles and have played a crucial role towards long context modeling/infra efforts of LLaMA 4. Going into 2025, i would plan to get more exposure in infra. Infra has fascinated me for a while, it continues to play a very crucial role towards scaling. I see it as an area of massive growth. Being able to perform modeling and build infra is a deeply indispensable skill. Another important milestone was getting a paper accepted at ICLR. I am pleased with the efforts taken towards this so far.

Travel. I took ~45 days off to visit family followed by trip to Europe to attend ICLR 2024 and travel. I met colleagues, past interns, made some new connections at ICLR. I ended up covering most tourist spots in Vienna, Hallstat, Budapest, Rome and Paris. I really enjoyed my time in Europe and is one of the highlights of 2024. I came to the realization that I have to be deliberate about making travel plans in advance considering how intensive research and eng in GenAI has become.

Relationships. From attending numerous reading club “party”/sessions, networking parties, poker club games to joining running club, i’ve contemplated quite a bit on how people go about socializing, finding commonalities, making deliberate efforts about making plans, and how much precious it is to find like-minded people across different walks of life. I continue to incite excitement amongst my bay area friends about moving to NYC on this front.

Hobbies. In 2023, it took me few months to realize and understand how intentional one has to be about playing tennis in NYC. Going into 2024, i was fairly determined about pursuing tennis during the summer. After the Europe trip, I got the tennis permit, purchased a new racquet. One benefit of staying in williamsburg is access to tennis courts in Mccarren Park. I made some new connections through it. I would be actively pursuing it, one of those interests which have sparked joy, enthusiasm and connections. Running. I ran far more in 2024 than I did in years before. I would be pushing more in 2025 to make running long distance easier. I also found a new running club (NBR) which has made the whole experience enjoyable and inspiring. I didn’t do enough guitar practice and have not improvement upon it in a meaningful manner. This would be an area of growth in sparetime.

Reading. I saw Richard Dawkins in NJ, as part of his last book tour for “Genetic Book of the dead”. After selfish gene, i finished reading “Enlightenment Now” and currently in the process of finishing “Behave”. After dabbling time reading between White teeth and The Remains of the day, I switched back again to reading non fiction. I am now realizing how dense content has become which I consume and fiction may ease up the load. Also thinking of getting a Kindle. I would be reducing my intake of movies to make space for more reading.

Meditation. I got deeper into understanding awakening. I have listened to a lot of Samaneri Jayasara. I would be spending time listening to Joseph Goldstein. and ofc more >30 mins meditations.

Areas of improvement. While I continue to prioritize fitness the most, there are some learnings I’ve had from where to go beyond where I’ve come. Sleep is something I’ve struggled with a lot this year. I’ve taken some deliberate efforts at year end (taking a week off, extended meditation etc.) to make some improvements. I will be trying to take things slow to reduce anxiety going into 2025.

I saw Hans Zimmer which was a dream come true. Seeing him play time with his daughter made me cry.