My Steps Toward Something Meaningful
Two separate things happened recently that gave me the idea to start this page.
First, I recently read an article1 about a TikTok trend called “Rejection Therapy.” Now, I had to look this up but the gist of it is that people were seeking out opportunities to be rejected to help them get over the fear of being rejected.2 I thought it was an interesting idea because while I don’t fear rejection, I definitely feel shamed when I get rejected, so it made me think that tracking my progress here might be an interesting way to show that even someone with a ton of experience gets rejected.
Second, as I’ve been reading about how to get into this field, I’ve been really surprised (and pleased) to see how many places are asking not just for a résumé but also for examples of what you’ve already done - concrete examples, even if they’re small that really show that you’re not just sitting back and waiting for someone to tell you what to do. They really want self-motivated people.
So for that reason, I’ve decided to start tracking both the self-study that I’ve been doing and also the actual programs that I’ve been applying to and the status. Who knows? If the TikTokers are right, I could be well on my way to having staggering levels of self-confidence!
🎉 🥳 Accepted Applications 🥳 🎉 Link to heading
| Date Applied | Program Name | Program Dates | Review |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-02-24 | 80,000 Hours Career Consultation | 18 March 2026 | To come… |
| 2026-02-23 | BlueDot Impact AGI Strategy Course | 9-13 March 2026 | To come… |
😞 Rejected Applications 😞 Link to heading
| Date Applied | Program Name |
|---|---|
| 2026-02-19 | HIP - Impact Acclerator Program |
📆 💼 Upcoming Events 💼 📆 Link to heading
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 2026-04-01 | “Did an LLM Write This? And other questions from the convergence of AI and national security.” |
📆 💼 Past Events 💼 📆 Link to heading
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 2026-03-11 | What will mobilise the public to act on AI? |
📚 Self-Study 📚 Link to heading
The advantage of doing these programs by myself is that I’m really able to go at a pace that benefits me and skip sections that I already know. For example, I’m using the MIT Intro to Computer Science course as my python refresher, but holy cow, I do not need to go into the details of what data structures are! I already know that. What I really need is some exercises where I can review Python and this is perfect for that. Plus, this course goes really quickly - meaning the assignments aren’t just 8 weeks of writing “Hello, World!”.
Completed
- Ethics in AI and Data Science (Linux Foundation EdX)
- U.S. Public Policy (HarvardX)
- AGI Strategy Course (BlueDot Impact)
(hover to see cert)
- Future of AI Course (BlueDot Impact)
(hover to see cert)
- AGI Safety Short Course (Google DeepMind)
- Neural Networks Foundational Review (3Blue1Brown)
- Linear Algebra Foundational Review (3Blue1Brown)
In Progress
- Differential Equations Foundational Review (3Blue1Brown)
- Python Foundational Review (MIT OpenCourseware)
Future
- Technical AI Safety (BlueDot Impact)3
- Frontier AI Governance (BlueDot Impact)3
- AI Safety (Harvard University/Boaz Barak)
- Game Theory I (Stanford EdX)
- Game Theory II (Stanford EdX)
- Intro to AI (HarvardX)
- Intro to AI Alignment (Stanford University)
- AT Safety Atlas
Last updated: 20 March 2026
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https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/feb/01/why-you-should-embrace-rejection ↩︎
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These are programs that I need to apply to. There’s no guarantee that I’ll be accepted. ↩︎ ↩︎