Launching Project Dauntless, Turning 17 & Living a (Not So) Cruel Summer | Angelmay's May + June Newsletter
Building a climate tech startup, planning out senior year + uni, and the adventures of a wandering teenage gal 💗
Welcome to my monthly newsletter! If you’re reading this, hi, I’m Angelmay, a sustainability enthusiast from a small town in the U.S. Midwest! Stick around for updates on my recent tech projects, music blab, and life adventures; also check out my other socials: Click here!
A/N: The past two months have been crazy hectic (which you’ll read about) so I’ve decided to do a combined newsletter for it all :)
And now… to my May + June newsletter! 💗
Launching Project Dauntless — Becoming a Moonshot Pirate & Scoring Top 15
Over the past few weeks, myself and my teammates from around the world have been working relentlessly on Project Dauntless, a climate tech startup working to leverage machine learning & quantum dot solar cells to power cities on solar energy.
I’ll be creating a separate newsletter that’s specific to the startup, and provide both technical & team updates as we grow and evolve. From a professional standpoint, I could not be more proud of all the work accomplished already, and can’t wait to venture on this long journey.
It feels surreal that this all started because a few random people all participating in the same moonshot challenge just so happened to connect online. I’m thankful for Moonshot Pirates and the “Shape the Future” challenge, without this amazing opportunity, I might have not have met my incredible co-founders. Shout out to Michael, Michalina, Basma and Qwyen; you guys are incredible and I can’t wait to do more epic shit with you guys!
As for our team results in the competition… WE SCORED 14TH?! OUT OF 100+ TEAMS?!?!
While we didn’t move onto the final pitch stage, here are some key takeaways from my experience in the challenge:
→ Take risks; At first, I was hesitant to even apply for the challenge. I thought that I didn’t have enough experience, didn’t have enough connections or certainty in where I wanted to go. I realized later on that the only thing that truly mattered was my passion and curiosity in sustainable tech.
→ Stay open to feedback & different ideas; Throughout the experience, I made a few friends outside of just my teammates. They were working on their own crazy lit project proposals and competing against me. Just because they were the “competition” doesn’t mean I should have boxed myself off in solitude. Learn from others. Being able to absorb differing ideas surrounding you leads to a knowledge advantage.
→ Trust your gut; When I joined the challenge server on Discord, I immediately started looking for a team to join and work under. And at first, I found one, with a few girls that really showed promise and ambition. But as we talked, I realized that my ideas didn’t align with theirs, and I found myself tweaking aspects of it, and even feeling unmotivated to pursue the idea they were planning on. So, I listened to my intuition and created my own group. Look where we are now. 💗
Briefly going over our next steps, I’m currently drafting a formal paper on QD cell application in building infrastructure with the goal of reaching out to universities + getting into a lab. Furthermore, we’ve applied for Buildspace Nights&Weekends S4, which starts up in August. With that will be some other grant applications & private proposals that will all be archived in the Dauntless Substack.
Lastly, I’ve been invited to speak on the sustainability panel for LOGYTalks during the first week of July. Not only will I be talking on sustainable design in urban cities, but also presenting Project Dauntless for the first time ever (holy moly).
I can’t wait to present to such a diverse audience and share my passion in sustainable energy & technology. Stay tuned for my July newsletter where I’ll update you all about it!!
Turning 17 — Finishing Grade 11 & Planning for Grade 12 + University
The month of May overall was… chaotic. Not just with the moonshot challenge, but also final unit tests and exams for school. I really had to prioritize what mattered to me, and decide what experiences were going to benefit the most.
So, my marks on my final exams were what I expected. Great grades in AP Language & Criminal Law, 80% or higher in Honors Physics, and a stinky score in Honors Algebra II.
For the last two weeks, I skipped my first two periods for most of those days. Instead, I worked on all my assignments in quiet study centers, and used my extra time to do Dauntless stuff. On the bus rides to and from my off-campus, I was still doing project work… same with lunch and study break. Then, I ended my day paying attention in Physics (when I wasn’t falling asleep…)
End of year events included the multi-class active shooter drill (which was amazing), WILCO picnics, and waiting for SAT scores to come out.
As far as the active shooter drill went, I was impressed with how it played out even if there were some “what the f*ck” moments. We ended up locating every shooter in the end, and triage went (kinda) smoothly. I do not regret yelling at the goofy EMS kids for messing around during our room searches. 😁
SAT went ok considering I didn’t touch a single piece of prep beforehand. The math portion was hell, but I scored 700 for english. Win some, lose some. It’s good enough for university applications, so I’m not too stressed.
Moving onto the topic of university… applications open up soon for both US and Canadian schools. Which leads me to talk about the differences in the actual applications.
Majority of the US schools I’m applying to use Common App, which has it’s pros and cons. I have space to list out my “extracurriculars”, like Project Dauntless, being an author, “TKS” work, etc. One thing I don’t like about the US system is the unpredictability when selected students are accepted, especially for competitive schools.
I’m very set on the decision to pursue environmental science/studies. Which brings me to the topic of Canadian universities. Because my major is considered “non-competitive” for the most part, I’m not too worried about getting in. The catch is that extracurriculars aren’t really considered for international students; it’s grades-based.
Either way, I’m fairly certain that my top school of choice, Carleton University in Ottawa, is an almost dead-set decision. I’ve talked to admissions officers, friends who attend the school, etc, and I can confidently see myself starting my next chapter there.
So, what’s the catch?
The only thing would be the financial “barriers" that come with international travel. While I am applying for multiple different scholarships, there is still a “what if” scenario when it comes to the stability of it all. While money is a very real thing to think about, I know that the experiences, chance to travel, meeting close friends, and education is worth all of it.
Living A (Not So) Cruel Summer — Choosing Authentic Relationships Over Social Aesthetics
I can easily say that this summer has been one of my favorites yet. The main reason for this is finally breaking free from the “popularity > personality” mindset.
A lot of people where I live don’t really understand the work that I do with tech & sustainability. While a lot of them are wow-ed by a young person being so ambitious, the support really doesn’t get bigger than some amazed facial expressions. I’ve grown to be okay with that and crave success over simple praise.
It mainly comes down to what we’re conditioned around; in school, you develop this mindset of getting good grades for the attention given by other people. All your classmates get jealous because you scored the highest on the test. Your teachers waive the daily homework check-in because everyone payed attention during lecture. We’re constantly chasing validation for numbers in a grade book. Then that mentality might filter in at home too. Or work. Whatever it is, it’s unrealistic to get noticed for every single good thing you do.
In reality, most of us don’t matter. At least, on a historical, “big-picture” scale. And I’m fine with that. It’s hard to accept that majority of us aren’t special. Once you do, it makes a difference in how you approach life.
After school ended, I basically stopped talking to most people that I would see. To be fair, I don’t have many school friends to begin with. It was easy to do this because everyone I was surrounded by would just talk about meaningless gossip or small interests. I was one of those people, for a while.
Then I started thinking to myself, “Why aren’t we talking about the world?”
Everyone was racing to apply for NHS, or talking about who our class president would be next year. We talked about who cheated on their boyfriend, how shitty the school food was, annoying sports coaches, the typical high school conversations. At some point, it got so repetitive and boring I threw on headphones and stopped talking with them.
Anyone can say they want to be a teacher, or a nurse, or basically any conventional career path. Not everyone can envision themselves completely shifting what the future will look like. I’m not saying that conventional careers are bad in themselves, but just don’t fit with what I believe in.
And of course, some people don’t like the black sheep in the herd. But there’s always people that won’t like you. I know I don’t like some people. It’s expected.
So now, the main people I talk to are my family, co-workers, boyfriend, and one close friend. Besides my family and co-workers, the other two don’t even live in the US. And I’m perfectly happy where I’m at. Nothing else compares to the feeling of genuine security in relationships.
When you stop focusing on the superficial, and start grinding hard on the things you care about, life becomes so much more.
TL;DR = Authenticity > Normality. Always.
May + June Adventures — TLDR
Reached 4K+ reads on “Wake Up | Jack Hughes” !!! I can’t believe that my writing has reached so many people, and that what I considered a simple hobby has turned into something huge. Could not be more grateful for my audience <3
FINALLY bought tickets to see Niall Horan on tour next year… I’ve been waiting for so many years to see him live, and scored a pretty decent seat too. #ConcertEraForever.
Celebrated the big 17th birthday with my family (& Madie) at the beach. It was a great time to bond with the people I hold close to me (and an excuse to tan)
Took my sister & cousin out to the city for Jazzy’s birthday; spent way too much money BUT it was a great day nonetheless!! (minus almost missing the train back…) - I’m eternally grateful for the both of them.
Worked a couple of big events for Leilani Asian Fusion; Even though it can be mentally challenging sometimes, I always ALWAYS will help out. Shoutout to Kuya Clark & Garnett for being my big brothers. Also the water fight was pretty lit crazy last night.
Started a new habit of watching the sunrise a few times a week; I’ve noticed that I feel more energized and at peace with the day if I start it off outside. I do a mile walk to a stream, watch the sunrise and contemplate my existence. With some Taylor Swift in the background, of course. #Swiftie4Life.
Loved the third part! I'm so relieved to know I'm not the only one who has started prioritizing this kind of authentic mindset...