Image Credit: The New York Times Turkey (a.k.a. Turkiye), my family's home country, has been devastated in the past few days by a historic 7.8 magnitude Earthquake - that is 32 times the destructive power of the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima - with a 7.5 magnitude aftershock the morning after and multiple tremors. The death toll is 11,000 people across Turkey and Syria and is expected to rise to around 20,000 dead. Hundreds of thousands of people (over 190,000) remain trapped under rubble of apartment buildings turned to dust in seconds. All this in the middle of winter snowstorms, forcing families to sleep outdoors while their loved ones, including infants, may still be missing or dead. My relatives were among the lucky ones, but so many others were not.  I have hosted a public fundraiser page with a goal of $500, to the Bridge to Turkiye fund, which is assisting with food, shelter, water, and warmth:    https://secure.givelively.org/donate/bridge-to-turkiye/kahram...

Brown University allows their applicants to submit an optional 2-minute video introduction, meant to be in place of a traditional interview. I am a Regular Decision applicant to Brown's Class of 2027 (that means I'd enroll in Fall 2023). Here is my video introduction. Pssst... if you're reading this blog post: I'll be back eventually to this blog! I promise! Hopefully by the springtime this year. But we'll see.