Lessons from a Long Journey
Insights from 2023
Life is the most precious resource you have. Don’t waste it. Do hard things that matter.
This work is a collection of ideas, philosophies, and experiences that I’ve developed over the course of this year. It’s my sincere hope that whatever little I have learned in the span of 12 months will aid, if not interest, you, the reader.
If we’re not yet familiar, my name is Alexander Yevchenko. I’m a 17 year-old from Toronto. Beyond that, I don’t restrict myself to labels. I like building impactful ventures that create meaningful change in the world, reading momentous literature, and learning about life’s intricacies.
I’ve been busy since my last update in April. Since then, I’ve built an AI tool that creates custom insurance policies for low-income Indian consumers, published 20 episodes of my podcast, Collimator, and received a grant from Emergent Ventures to build out Cultura, an app for farmers.
If you’re interested in keeping up with my work and thoughts, subscribe to this newsletter.
Lessons Post-College Applications
Since September, I’ve applied to nine universities across the US and Canada, and I’ve already received acceptances from two.
Throughout the process, I realized just how much of the teenage life is shaped to get into top institutions. From clubs to extracurriculars to ‘passion’ projects, much of the adolescent experience is optimized to look good to an admissions officer glazing through thousands of applications in a span of a few months.
Sure, I understand that there will be some segment of the teenage population that will desperately vie for the prestige of the best institutions, but I didn’t realize just how large in scale this problem was across North America. I’m fortunate enough to have a great network of friends across the ‘target schools’ everyone dreams of, and I’ve heard again and again the stories of the aimlessness around them.
From kindergarten, students have been trained to follow a set process that will land them an acceptance at a great university. In fact, the entire process has been commercialized! Experts estimate that the market for College Admissions Counsellors, essentially five-year coaches that ‘guide’ students through the admissions process, has reached $10B.
Imagine spending your entire life aiming towards this one goal, participating in activities that are largely meaningless to you outside of making an impression on college recruiters, finally achieving that goal, and then being thrust into an environment full of kids experiencing the exact same question: ‘What Now?’
I don’t blame them. College has historically been one of the greatest indicators of lifetime incomes, and has transformed countless lives with the opportunities it provides. But with admission rates at under 3% at elite universities and growing competition, it’s no wonder parents are shelling out tens of thousands of dollars to get their kids in, or in the case of some celebrities, bribing admissions officers.
Frankly, I’m glad that I didn’t fall victim to this process. It traps you in a mindset that fixates the value of your character based on the college that you get accepted to, and makes you think that the college experience will magically transform you into a superhuman capable of saving the world.
Despite what many people might think, the education you receive is largely the same — the fundamental laws of the universe don’t change. What people are really striving for is community and connections. Top students from across the world congregate at the best universities, and being surrounded by generational talent brings out the potential in oneself. Being brought to the edge of your intellectual capacity, day in and day out, challenges you to think more innovatively and exposes you to emerging technologies, the combination of which bring out ideas that are more than likely to create outsized impact in the world.
I’ve been thinking a lot about how to justify the massive delta in price when deciding between a Canadian and American education, and all it really boils down to are the people you’re surrounded by. While life-changing connections are possible at Canadian institutions, the sheer concentrations of talented and driven individuals at US schools is unmatched, and speaking to international students who have chosen to go there, is the number one reason they’ve given for their decision.
Ultimately, if you’re a high-agency individual driven to make a significant change in the world, this decision will not determine your fate. If the conviction is present, impact is inevitable.
After writing (and reading) dozens of essays, I’ve reinforced the centrality of effective writing in achieving life goals. If you’re able to write well, you persuade people, and persuaded people may be leveraged in all sorts of ways, from selling products to promoting ideas.
I’ve never considered myself to be an outstanding or especially insightful author, but I’ve done well in English classes and have received a lot of positive feedback from friends and teachers on essays that I’ve written. I think that ability stems from the amount that I read throughout my childhood and the effect reading has had on my thinking. I’ve seen a lot of disparaging content online that promotes the idea that reading is a waste of time, which I couldn’t disagree more with.
The benefits of consistently reading high-quality literature are difficult to quantify quantitatively, but qualitatively, the classics teach one how to think — which I believe, more than anything, is the basis of human consciousness.
Being able to think from first principles, reasoning out why things are the way they are and what we might do to change them is a basic necessity for anyone looking to make a deep impact on our shared world. Yet, it is an art that I think is slowly falling away. Societally, we’ve shifted away our focus from progress to the present, which will be extremely detrimental over the next 20 years.
Americans, for example, are reading less than ever, according to Gallup polls dating back to 1990. In that timespan, the dramatic rise of novel forms of social media and otherwise dopamine-rich entertainment has taken the place of sitting down to read a good book. While it’s far from the only cause, I don’t think the sudden increase in illiteracy rates, depression or suicides is completely detached from this lack of intellectual exploration through literature.
When studying the brightest minds across the generations of the world, it’s impossible to detach them from the books they’ve read, and how those books have influenced their thinking. One striking example was highlighted in Walter Isaacson’s biography of Elon Musk, in which his pursuit of a space-faring civilization began with his obsession over A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Funnily enough, the ‘Nearly Definitive’ edition is sitting on my nightstand (thanks mom!).
Moreover, the more time one spends reading, the better they get at writing. The confluence of styles, vocabulary and devices of the world’s greatest creative minds has an impact that can only be appreciated once one puts pen to paper, or in my case, fingers to keyboard. I like to think of reading as learning from the brightest minds the world has ever come across. It’s almost as if you have direct access to a Roman Emperor’s inner thoughts, probing them with your inquietudes. The richness of that moment is a experience no human brain should be allowed to live without.
Reading more in 2024 is a simple resolution that I think all of us should follow. Even if its ten minutes a day, the knock-on effects of great literature will inevitably create a sense of community in a world that is growing more divided by the minute.
The Realizations that Have Shaped Me, This Year
The greatest acceleration in your life happens with, and through, the people you meet. One great interaction, mentor, or opportunity puts you on an exponential life trajectory that would have taken decades to achieve otherwise. The best way to access this serendipity is putting yourself in high-concentration of talent areas and doing the uncomfortable, whether sending a cold email or striking up a conversation with a stranger.
Don’t accept the average. Human satisfaction is achieved through a combination of exertion and result. Define concrete goals in all areas of your life, whether with friends or in your career, and drive towards them at full gas. Oddly enough, once you’re committed to your goals, work stops seeming so. It turns into an enjoyment of the process, even when you hit roadblocks.
Travel as much as possible when you’re young. The people you meet and the experiences you go through form a critical part of your character as you enter adulthood. The more you’ve seen in your life, the more you’re able to contribute to the communities you enter. You also enjoy travelling a lot more when you’re young — you’re able to engage in adventurous activities, explore through eating, and form meaningful, lifetime connections with people across the globe.
Don’t compare yourself to others, only previous versions of yourself. Everyone around you is chasing their own goals and living in their own world, and lateral comparison serves little function. Instead, focus vertically, on how much closer you’ve gotten to your goals today.
Don’t constrain yourself to a box. Everything that you choose to do in your life, you should love. Otherwise, opt out. Don’t restrict yourself to external labels forced upon you. If you’re talented at math but have a passion for art, don’t let one pursuit get in the way of the other. It’s in the overlap of these experiences that our unique individualities are shaped.
My Favorite Moments of 2023, Visualized
Top 3 Books of 2023
Elon Musk - Walter Isaacson
The Idea Factory, Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation - Jon Gertner
(A re-reading of) Meditations - Marcus Aurelius
As a final note to cap off the year, I wanted to express my gratitude to the people who’ve made this journey so amazing. There are way too many names to list, so I’ll just say that I’m eternally thankful for your positive contribution to my life, and I hope to add 2024 to another list of great years on our journey together.
Thank you.
Onwards!
Amazing recap! No doubt Yevchenko's coming into 2024 with sick momentum 🔥