Life & Interests

Moments behind the lens, sports on the court and road, gaming & media studies, and reading

Life outside the classroom informs everything I do inside it. Here is a glimpse into my creative pursuits, athletic routines, game studies, and personal interests.

Photography & Visuals

A collection of moments captured on campus, during travels, and in everyday life. (Click any photo to view in full resolution)

Nature’s Mirror

Nature’s Mirror

Organic Textures

Organic Textures

Industrial Contrast

Industrial Contrast

Photography teaches the art of careful observation—a discipline that directly parallels scientific inquiry and close textual analysis.

Sports & Movement

Physical endurance and athletic focus offer the perfect counterbalance to intellectual work.

Tennis

Drawn to the timeless artistry and effortless geometry of Roger Federer, paired with the relentless, clean ball-striking pace of Jannik Sinner. On the court, tennis is an ongoing exercise in tactical patience, footwork precision, and mental resilience.

Cycling

Long-distance road cycling as a moving extension of visual inquiry. Pedaling across changing terrains with a camera in tow, capturing the quiet vernacular and man-altered landscapes in the spirit of the New Topographics tradition, deeply inspired by photographers like Stephen Shore and Alec Soth.

Running & Hiking

Currently an eager beginner finding rhythm on foot and trail. In running, steadily building an aerobic base with the goal of tackling my first half-marathon. In hiking, aspiring to walk the historic pilgrimage through the mist-shrouded mountain paths of Japan’s sacred Kumano Kodo (熊野古道).

Gaming & Game Studies

As a dedicated PlayStation player and New Media graduate, I approach video games as a profound medium of contemporary culture—blending spatial architecture, interactive narrative, and procedural rhetoric.

Soulslike & Bloodborne

An avid admirer of FromSoftware’s world-building, with Bloodborne standing as the absolute pinnacle. From the gothic-cosmic horror of Yharnam to its intricate, non-linear vertical level design, it exemplifies environmental storytelling where every shortcut and architecture choice conveys lore without verbal exposition.

Game Studies & Media Theory

Engaging with ludology, player agency, and game mechanics through the lens of media studies. Analyzing how rule systems, feedback loops, and interactive constraints construct philosophical meaning in ways traditional linear media cannot.

Reading & Media

Structured around four core pillars of my knowledge system—bridging the analytical rigor of science with the interpretive depth of the arts and humanities.

Art & Media

  • Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace — Janet H. Murray
  • Ways of Seeing — John Berger
  • Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man — Marshall McLuhan
  • Persuasive Games: The Expressive Power of Videogames — Ian Bogost

Humanities & Language

  • Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-Element in Culture — Johan Huizinga
  • Metaphors We Live By — George Lakoff & Mark Johnson
  • The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language — Steven Pinker
  • The Elements of Style — William Strunk Jr. & E.B. White

Science & Engineering

  • What is Life? With Mind and Matter — Erwin Schrödinger
  • Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning — Peter C. Brown
  • The Master Algorithm — Pedro Domingos
  • Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid — Douglas Hofstadter

Society & Culture

  • Thinking, Fast and Slow — Daniel Kahneman
  • The Alignment Problem: Machine Learning and Human Values — Brian Christian
  • Guns, Germs, and Steel — Jared Diamond
  • Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI — Ethan Mollick