December—final exams, snowy runs, travel for work, and the holidays. It was a month of reflection for the year past and planning for the year ahead. I’ve enjoyed looking back on the lessons learned, milestones achieved, and the progress I’ve made both personally and professionally.
Looking Back on December
The first two weeks of December were spent mostly finishing up projects for grad school and preparing for finals. I was quite stressed about my exams initially, but everything went pretty well. The week after, I had no idea what to do with all the free time on my hands in the evening!
Then came a quick work trip back to Minnesota. Visiting Minnesota was a nice change. The weather was quite bad—it was 31°F, and the roads had iced over to the point where kids were ice skating on them!
NYC received some snow in the last week of the year, and I enjoyed running through Central Park with everything looking white. I went to a lot of group runs in the winter and made some new friends. I hope to be able to keep that up in the new year—I’ve enjoyed the social part of running.
Marathon training has been going well. My body has adapted to the increased mileage, and I have also found easy high-protein meals to power me through this. I have not been strength training, which I hope to improve in January. I saw a statistic recently that got me thinking about reading more books—more on that in the Habit I’m Building section.
Running and Fitness
I got started on my 20-week marathon plan this month. I am a bit nervous about the marathon distance, but I am also excited to learn about running and myself on this journey. I went to REI and picked out every running gel I could find to try on my longer runs. I hope to find what works for me.
With all the free time this month, I’ve been going to social running events in the city. It is interesting to have new people to run with and learn from. A standout run was the first run with a group that I met up with. They pushed me hard to a 10k PR on the hilly Central Park Loop!
Graduate School
Like I mentioned earlier, this month had finals week and project submissions. I was quite pleased with myself for getting a 4.0 this semester. I worked on a project for my Big Data class analyzing collisions in NYC, which I want to share in the Projects section soon.
For the upcoming spring semester, I have two classes: Algorithms and Computation, and Statistics for Data Science. I’ve heard the Algorithms class is quite brutal, so I am preparing ahead to hopefully still do well.
Exploring NYC
This month, I want to share the history about the entrance to Central Park on 6th Avenue. Central Park is located between 5th and 8th Avenues in Manhattan. The 5th Avenue entrance has a famous gilded statue of General Sherman, while the 8th Avenue entrance is by the equally famous Columbus Circle. The 6th Avenue entrance is equally grand but often overlooked.
The 6th Avenue entrance features three grand equestrian statues of South American figures: SimĂłn BolĂvar, JosĂ© MartĂ, and JosĂ© de San MartĂn. These statues honor their contributions to independence movements and Pan-American ideals.
SimĂłn BolĂvar, known as “El Libertador,” was a Venezuelan military and political leader who played a central role in the independence movements of several South American countries, including Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. Inspired by the American and French Revolutions, BolĂvar led military campaigns against Spanish colonial rule, envisioning a united and free South America. Despite his successes, political disunity and resistance to his vision of a pan-American federation marked his later years, and he died in exile in Colombia. The statue of BolĂvar, created by sculptor Sally James Farnham, was donated by the government of Venezuela and dedicated on April 19, 1921. Originally located near West 83rd Street, it was relocated to its current position in 1951 when Sixth Avenue was renamed Avenue of the Americas to honor Pan-American ideals.
José Martà was a Cuban poet, journalist, and revolutionary leader who became a symbol of Cuba’s struggle for independence from Spain. Known for his eloquent writings and speeches, Martà advocated for freedom, justice, and Latin American unity. He founded the Cuban Revolutionary Party and sought to mobilize support for Cuba’s liberation. Martà was killed during the early stages of the Cuban War of Independence, but his legacy as a national hero and champion of anti-imperialism endures in Cuba and across Latin America. The statue of the Cuban patriot was sculpted by American artist Anna Hyatt Huntington and completed in 1959. Huntington gifted the monument to the Cuban government for presentation to the people of New York City. Due to political tensions between the United States and Cuba, the statue was not installed until 1965. It depicts the moment Martà was mortally wounded in battle.
JosĂ© de San MartĂn was an Argentine general and one of the primary leaders of South America’s fight for independence from Spanish rule. Known as the “Liberator of the South,” San MartĂn played a key role in the liberation of Argentina, Chile, and Peru. His military genius was exemplified by his daring crossing of the Andes to defeat Spanish forces in Chile. A believer in freedom and republican ideals, San MartĂn resigned from public life after his campaigns, retiring to France, where he spent his final years. This monument was a gift from the City of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and was dedicated on May 25, 1951. It is a replica of an 1862 statue by French sculptor Louis-Joseph Daumas located in Buenos Aires. The statue was installed as part of a broader initiative to celebrate South American heroes following the renaming of Sixth Avenue.
Learning their stories has deepened my appreciation for the park’s history and its connection to global figures.
Habit I’m Building
Reflecting on the year, I realized I had only read one book in 2024. This was a wake-up call, as I used to be an avid reader growing up. To fix this, I joined a book club that discusses a book every month and holds meetups for silent reading and socializing. My goal for 2025 is to read at least one book a month, starting with The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.
Personal Updates
And with that, the 2024 season comes to an end. For New Year’s, I went to Times Square to check out the ball drop a few hours before midnight. I reflected on my year and spent a quiet night in. In January, I’ll be traveling to Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., and I’m excited to learn more about American history. That’s all for now—see you in 2025!
