November: A Month Filled with Love and Gratitude!🍂

Mara's Megabyte Monthlies! - November 2023

Hey! For those of you who don’t know (or remember) me, I’m Mara, a 16 y/o trying to figure out how to navigate the crazy adventures of life and make the biggest impact I can. To everyone reading this, welcome to the first-ever edition of Mara’s Megabyte Monthlies, the one time a month that I do a deep cleaning of my room thoughts and organize them all into a life update for all of you! Through these newsletters, you will be able to join me as I explore this wonderful world and reflect on my personal growth in the process. Alright, let’s dive in!

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Published My First Tech Article!

Last month as I was learning about the wonders of synthetic biology I came across an incredible technology inspired by one of the most amazing processes in nature: artificial photosynthesis. From the moment I heard about this I immediately became hooked to its massive potential and wide range of applications. This technology essentially manipulates nature’s photosynthesis so that instead of producing sugars it produces fuels that we need to power our cars and homes. Even better, since the process takes CO2 out of the air this technology is carbon-neutral meaning it emits the same amount of CO2 that this takes out of the atmosphere. Isn’t that so cool?! I got so interested in this technology that I wrote a whole article about it! If you would like to learn more about it too (which I highly recommend that you do) check out my article about it here. I cover how this technology works, why it has the potential to be so revolutionary, what its drawbacks are, and how engineers and corporations are working to increase its efficiency and scale it.

Here is a sneak peak:

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JSA Fall State at the Texas Capitol!

At the start of this month, I got the wonderful privilege to travel to Austin to attend JSA’s Fall State (which I helped plan)! For those of you who don’t know what this is, Fall State is an annual convention that brings students from all around Texas together to enjoy a weekend of super fun and educational debates and incredible guest speakers. This event is planned by an organization called JSA (Junior State of America) that works to teach students how to debate, explore different perspectives/world views, and get involved in their government/politics. This year, after 1 and a half years of being an active member of this organization I decided to get involved on the state-wide level and applied to become Texas JSA’s Chief of Staff. Through this position, I was able to help plan this event and help schools get their students to this convention.

From August to November, the Texas JSA Cabinet worked hard to plan this event, come up with engaging debates, and find interesting speakers. So, it was amazing to see all this hard work pay off when students from all over Texas started pouring into the Texas State Capitol. Throughout the day, I participated in and watched many debates, most notably one about prisoner swaps, which gave me entirely new perspectives on many topics. I also got to listen to two amazing speakers — Dr. Stephania Tomaskovic and Texas Representative James Talarico. From them, I learned the importance of policy + education in combatting climate change and collaboration + listening to opposing point of views when creating government policies.

This was an incredible experience as the entire week was filled with some of my favorite passions: debate, politics/government, and climate change. At the same time, I also learned a lot. Most notably, my biggest takeaway was:

The smartest people are the ones who can enter a discussion without bias and leave it with a whole new perspective, and sometimes even a whole new opinion.

I think nowadays, with the influence of social media and the bubble it forms around us, there is this idea that everyone must formulate strong opinions about everything happening in the world and defend it at all costs. I have noticed this happening a lot this year as many debates over everything from abortion rights to foreign policy in times of war have arisen and people have been pressured to choose the side of the argument that they are told is the “correct” side and sticking with it no matter what. However, I believe there is a lot of danger in establishing such a narrow worldview so quickly. As I was reminded while discussing prisoner exchanges, some issues are so complicated that you can’t just form an immediate opinion; in fact, sometimes it is much more valuable to develop a holistic view of the problem so you can figure out what is best case by case. When we look around the world, it is easy to see that some of the greatest leaders are the ones who will listen to those who oppose them and not take pride in the opinions they hold most strongly, but rather in the decisions they came to thanks to the flexibility of their opinions, the heated debates they have with others, and the data they gather. Ultimately, this is the mark of a great leader and it is something each of us can practice every day.

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Velocity + The TKS Community

This past month I have been lucky enough to have joined the velocity program that is a part of TKS. For those of you who are not familiar with TKS, it is this incredible program that helps teenagers learn about emerging technology and develop the skills they need to succeed in life. Within TKS, there is another program called velocity for the students that want to maximize their growth as quickly as possible. Before I joined this program I feel like my life was pretty normal: I went to school, I did my homework, I attended extracurriculars, and if I had time I would work on some side projects. A lot of what I did was just me going through the motions, doing what people had told me would be good for my success; my actions didn’t really have much intention attached to them.

Once I joined velocity, everything changed. For starters, I began doing daily reflections which helped me figure out how to improve each day, I began time-blocking my time which helped me maximize my efficiency, I began learning about different mindset and people every week who taught me invaluable lessons. This program has pushed me to work harder and do things that I may not be comfortable with. Yes, it was hard to manage at first, but now it is a part of my life that I don’t want to give away because it has made me happier and more motivated than ever.

Truly, though what I most love about this program is the community. I have learned so much from the people around me. Every single person in velocity is an incredibly human being who works their booty behind off every day. When I first joined velocity it was really hard not to compare myself to all these incredibly people that seemed to be doing so much better than me. But after talking to them through brain dates, coaching calls, squad meetings, and more, I realized that everyone was experiencing the same thing. From the moment I realized this my view changed so much. I started opening up to these people more and more and they taught me the value of having a support system and a community that knows what you are going through and is there to cheer you on as you work towards your goals. These people give me the most incredibly feedback and rather than making me feel like I need to compete with them, the inspire me with what they do every single day. This group is made up of the most loving, smart, and hard working people I know and I am so grateful to be climbing my mountain with them encouraging and helping me on my headset whenever I need them.

To all my velocity friends and to my coach: I am so thankful for all of you and I can’t wait to spend another month growing together. 💗

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Thanksgiving: My Favorite Holiday <3

Okay okay, I know you’re probably reading this and thinking “I think she’s turned crazier than the story line of Free Birds*.” BUT hear me out. Thanksgiving really is my favorite holiday. I mean, it has a lot of perks: You get much needed time off, you get to dress up all fancy for your thanksgiving dinner, you make your house look organized and put together, there are sales in every shop, and you get delicious food (even if you’re vegetarian). Plus PUMPKIN PIE. In my opinion, when it comes to dessert options it doesn’t get much better than that (except maybe with a delicious combo of apple piece + ice cream).

But to be honest, as great as all these things are, what really makes this holiday so incredible is the opportunity it gives us to remember to make time for our families and appreciate everything we take for granted in a year. I often am guilt of forgetting to do both things so I am always grateful to have a holiday in which I am reminded of the importance of both.

This Thanksgiving, I realized that with how busy I always insist that I am, I seldom remember to make time for the people in my life who I love dearly. This year, I focused a lot on spending time with my family (including my dog) and showing my friends how grateful I am for always being there to support me and stay by my side even when I don’t feel my best. Moving to Texas from Seattle in the middle of my junior year I was honestly really afraid that I would become lonely, that I wouldn’t be able to form friendships or become part of communities with as much meaning as the ones I had been a part of for so long back there. It was thanks to my family, who lifted my chin up when tears were forming in my eyes, and my friends, who quickly welcomed me when I was only in my first few weeks of living in this town, that I was able to realize: your life may change, but your ability to form friendships and connections doesn’t.

To celebrate this and all the friends I formed in my first few months here, I decided to host a friendsgiving and had an absolute BLAST. Not only did this help me feel loved, it also helped me remind my friends that they were loved.

My biggest takeaway - Treat your loved ones like you treat your curls: With daily love and care coupled with the occasional monthly hair mask or blowout (or in the case of friends with a delicious home-cooked appreciation dinner).

Gratitudes

• My incredible family - I love you all so much. Thank you for being there for me every second of the day.

• My wonderful friends - To the new and the old. To the near and the far. No matter where you are or how long ago we met I hope you know how much I appreciate you and how excited I am to see our friendship grow.

• Rahwa Woldu
  - Thank you for being an incredible teammate, accountability partner, and friend. Your confidence, work ethic, and dedication to everything you do is truly inspirational and I am so glad to have met you. Looking forward to many years of friendship and partnerships ahead. <3

• Junia🌺
  - Thank you so much for peer reviewing my article on artificial photosynthesis. Your feedback was wonderful (as was your article) and certainly something I will keep in mind in my next pieces of writing.

• My Velocity Squad: Shreya, Henry, Rahwa, and Mansi - Thank you for always keeping me on track and being so understanding about everything. I am so lucky to have gotten all you incredible humans on my velocity squad!

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Music, Podcasts, and Quotes 😍

Music

• Album of the Month: Lofi Minnie: Focus

  • This week I have been super focused on maximizing my efficiency and getting work done. This album, filled with Disney classics turned into Lofi, has helped me enjoy music even when I need to focus.

• Artist of the Month: Sabrina Carpenter

  • Sabrina Carpenter has come out with such incredible music these past few years! What I love about here is that she can have songs with completely different vibes in one album. In one song she may be playing the most confident and popular woman ever and in the next one she is singing about heartbreak and feeling like an item that’s been thrown away. This is really noticeable in two of my favorites: “Because I Liked A Boy” and “Feather”.

• Song of the Month: “Unstoppable” - Sia

  • This song is so incredibly important to me. It talks about resilience and proving that you are more than what others may see from the surface. It talks about the power of feeling confident and letting that feeling take you where you need to go. This is by far my favorite song of all time as it perfectly embodies my spirit and what my parents have always taught me. In fact, it was my mother that got me to fall so in love with this song in the first place after telling me it reminded her of us (our family). This month has definitely had its ups and downs and there have been some difficult moments. During these moments, this song is what carried me through because it reminded me that confidence and resilience are something you can have at any time and they take you anywhere you want if you accept them.

Podcasts

• Episode of the Month: Impact Theory, Tom Bilyeu and Vusi Thembekwayo: #191 Is your self identify limiting your potential?

  • This podcast taught me one of the biggest lessons I learned this month. ‘Your circumstances are valid, your excuses are valid but so what?’ What this means is that any excuse you have for not succeeding or getting something is probably true. However, validating it or sharing it with others doesn’t achieve anything. Proving that the excuse is true doesn’t make it go away and it certainly doesn’t help you make progress. This is why it is essential that when you encounter a barrier or obstacle you acknowledge it and then ask yourself how you can succeed in overcoming it and making progress despite it. This is what makes true resilience.

Quote of the Month

“A true friend [or loved one] accepts who you are, but also helps you become who you should be.”

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A Glimpse into December

• ✈️Family Travel! - This December my grandparents are coming over from Spain and we are going to take them to a few places around the US to explore. Come back at the end of this month to discover where we are going and see some beautiful pictures!

• 🌿New Artificial Photosynthesis Project! - Now that I have a better understanding of this technology and have written an article about it, it’s time for me to dig deeper and really get to the heart of how this technology works. This December I will be building a project related to Synthetic Biology (and hopefully artificial photosynthesis) to figure this out. Wanna stay updated on this? Subscribe to my Medium page or connect with me on LinkedIn to learn more abut what I am working on from the second I get started.

• 🤠My First Challenge! - In December, I will be forming a team with other students in TKS and we will be partnering with a yet-to-be-determined company to brainstorm how to solve a major problem that they are currently experiencing. You will definitely be hearing about it in my December newsletter but if you want an update sooner keep an eye on my LinkedIn for when I post the results of the challenge and my reflections.

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Last Month’s Joke

Thanks for reading Mara’s Megabite Monthlies (November Edition)! And now for the moment you have all been waiting for…. the answer to last month’s joke! After all, its been a long time coming. 😉

When do cows turn into werewolves? During a full mooooooon. 🐮→🐺

This Month’s Joke

Now in honor of Thanksgiving, this month’s joke is:

Why was the Thanksgiving soup so expensive?

Want to know the answer? Come back at the end of December for the big reveal in my next monthly newsletter! (See what I did there! I learned that trick from telenovelas 😎)

See you in December! 👋🏻

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Are you stuck on the answer to this month’s joke? Do you have a friend who could help you figure it out so you don’t have to end on a cliffhanger until next month? Share this with them so I can meet some new people and you can get the answer to the joke early — it’s a win-win!