When I started building this website, I mainly wanted a place for my academic information. My education, research interests, projects, experience, and contact information all needed a home. That part was straightforward.

But after putting those things together, I started to notice what was missing.

There was nowhere for the rest of my life.

Why a Personal Website?

I like having my own website because I can decide what goes on it and how it is organized. It is different from a social media profile. There is no feed to keep up with and no need to post something just because it is new.

I can leave a page alone for months and come back to it later. I can change the layout, keep old writing, add photographs, or simply leave something as it is.

That is one reason I wanted to keep this website for a long time, rather than treating it as just another portfolio.

Why Beyond Academia?

An academic website has a fairly obvious purpose. People want to know what you study, where you work, what you have done, and how to contact you. I want my website to do those things well.

But that leaves out a lot.

I also spend time playing guitar, playing tennis and table tennis, playing games, traveling, reading, taking photographs, and doing things that have nothing to do with my research. Some of these things may stay with me for years. Some may not. Either way, they are part of my life now.

Not everything that matters becomes a line on a CV.

That is why I made Beyond Academia.

I do not see it as a separate version of myself. It is simply a place for parts of my life that do not belong in the academic sections of this website.

What I Want to Keep Here

I do not have a fixed plan for this page.

I may write about a trip, a book, a game I remember from years ago, something I am learning on the guitar, or a photograph that I want to keep. Sometimes it may be a longer piece of writing. Sometimes it may just be a few photos and some notes.

I also do not want everything here to become a lesson.

A hobby does not have to make me more productive. A trip does not have to teach me something important. A memory does not need a conclusion.

Sometimes I just want to remember something.

Years from now, I probably will not remember every assignment, deadline, or project detail from this period of my life. I may remember a place I visited, a game I played, a song I was trying to learn, a conversation, or what an ordinary day felt like.

Those things are easy to lose if I do not write them down.

A Small Beginning

So this page is a small beginning.

The academic part of this website tells you what I study and what I have worked on. Beyond Academia is where I can keep some of the other things that make up my life.

I do not know yet what this page will become. I would rather leave it open and see what I actually want to write about.

For now, I just want to have a place to keep these things.

If you find something here that you remember, enjoy, or want to talk about, then that is enough reason for me to have kept it.