This will be a quick outline (and review) of the things I studied on my year off after leaving investment banking (Why did I pivot?).
There are a few purposes for this:
This roughly covers August 2023 - September 2024. I spent the latter half of 2023 living out of a backpack in cheap Airbnbs and pet sitting internationally; I spent the start of 2024 in Wisconsin.
This isn’t everything!
I studied a lot outside of this and enjoyed ruminating, learning, forgetting, relearning, and generally letting myself become immersed in this field.
I also picked up a love and appreciation for public libraries 📚 The cover photo is the State Library of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia (one of my favorite spots I spent a few days at).
By the time I started at UCSD (~1 year after beginning this self-study) I could tell I was beyond most of my peers in ML and honestly in many aspects of computer science. This isn’t intended as an ego stroke, this is more a statement on the efficacy of dedicated study.
Self-studying is super effective but will drive you crazy.
Cautiously recommend.