Hobbies
This page is a high-level overview of the various ways I fill my time outside of work. I usually have two or three hobbies at a time that I'm exploring with fervor—often entirely different from what I do professionally—which has earned me a wide and wacky range of tools for my tool belt.
In college I was a competitive ballroom dancer, which transformed into latin social dancing after I graduated; during the wintery months, I enjoy the tactile process of crocheting and knitting garments; in the summer, I set out on long camping trips by bike in the forests of New England, accompanied by my handmade bike bags; and before work, you can find my roommates and I baking the next iteration of our bagels that we can't stop tweaking.
It is very important to me that I am always pushing myself to grow and explore the things that make me feel alive. I believe a stagnant life is no life at all. Shake things up. Go outside.
Dance
I never, in a million years, would have expected to join the ballroom dance team at Tufts. That is, until I got a taste of the methodical rhythmic moment at the heart of the sport. My engineering brain quickly became obsessed with the deep structure of ballroom, while the creative side of my brain took a long-awaited breath of fresh air after years of atrophy.
One thing led to another, and I started working my way up the ranks at collegiate competitions, finally deciding to call it a day after three years of competing. In the end, competing was not sustainable long-term for me, but I am forever grateful for the gift of dance it gave me.
After moving on from ballroom, I began exploring the vibrant world of latin social dance in Boston. I was particularly drawn to the speed and elasticity of salsa and the amazing community around it, and was surprised how creatively distinct social dance is from the choreographed world of ballroom. Improvising dance with complete strangers opens up an entire world of experimentation and expression that I had never experienced before.
I speak more to my experience on the Tufts Ballroom Dance Team here.
Fiber Crafts
Crochet
My grandma taught me to crochet over winter break in 2023, and since then I've explored all kinds of techniques that push the craft and my own understanding of it. In my pursuits, I built a crochet pattern designer tool that you can read about here.
Knitting
Crochet is cool and all, but I realized after crocheting my first cardigan that I wanted a textile with a nicer final feel. Nicer drape. softer. Lighter. So I started fiendishly teaching myself how to knit from YouTube videos (where all the best hobbies begin) during the winter of 2025, and completed my first knit hat on a plan ride from Boston to Salt Lake City. I became obsessed with how knit items felt. Moreover, the process of fixing mistakes while knitting was immediately addictive. It's like you're performing surgery. This is in great contrast to crochet, where you fix stuff by ripping your work out like you're trying to start a lawn mower.
Below is under construction!