Hindsight is 2020

This doc is a work in progress as I try to trackback the far -from-ordinary year we've been in. Most of the year ended up being dominated by this microscopic virus which suddenly changed all that we took for granted in the world around us letting us witness both the worst of times and the best of humankind. And if I don't talk about the political landscape - that's intentional. It's too emotion for the mind to handle.

January

Jan 1, 2020 was the dawn of a new decade, a year where this century would leave its teen years and enter into the heady years of the 20s.  I even wrote a poem for 2020 and another one Daily Cal Renaissance Man for the Daily Cal.

I'd been very excited about the courses I was to take in Spring especially Human Happiness. I had heard Professor Dacher Keltner speak during my Golden Bear Orientation and had waited for the opportunity to take this course. I'd even done an interview with him for the Daily Cal (Towards a Life of Meaning). And what a terrific course it turned out to be. I was Back in Wheeler Hall, my fav lecture hall covering topics one does not associate with academics - awe, gratitude, empathy. I was in total awe. Even got a shoutout by Prof Keltner during one lecture which was thrilling.

Discussion sections were in Dwinelle Hall on Thursdays from 5 to 6pm. As I stepped out of Dwinelle Hall after the discussion section, I would be greeted by the music of the Campanile, playing its concert. It was truly Happiness happens at Six. It was going to be another great year.

I was taking a Business Class for the first time at Haas Business School.

I'd finished the CITI training required by the IRB for research with human subjects and joined Prof Harvey's Lab, Rhe Golden Bear Mood and Sleep Research Clinic as an RA. Back also at the RadMad Disability Lab, teaching the Autism Decal and being on the board of SpectrumAtCal.

February

My family and I, all came down with a bad case of the flu early Feb and were quite sick for over one after the other. One has to wonder if we had a version of covid that time itself.

Feb 3, I was invite to join the ASAN board.

My birthday falls in February. I got to both celebrate with the weekender team and also with my family at an SF restaurant. Little did I know that would be my last restaurant outing for the year.
The coronavirus had started making some waves and uneasiness was creeping into the air. At my SpectrumAtCal meetings one of the other board members mentioned how worried she was about her family and the situation in China. But it was still a far away event in the minds of people living here.

March

Mar 5: I presented live at UCSF CME 19th Annual Dev Disabilities Conf. A Growth Mindset - Reimagining Possibilities for Minimally Speaking Autistics . I remember being told to be very careful not to touch anything, shake hands and did not spend a moment longer than necessary at the conference site. 

The coronavirus lockdown "Shelter-At-Home" went into full swing right after. Students were asked to go home and campuses started shutting down. 

April 

Education transitioned to a world of boxed figures on a laptop screen. Students and instructors both struggled to understand this new mode of instruction.

How did I cope? 

• By writing about the Pandemic for the Daily Cal. #1 A Chilling Waiting Game #2 The Real Social Distancing. 
• Discussing the impact of Covid-19 on the Disability Community at Crip Camp Conversations 3  (along with the late Stacey Park)

Cole (Current President of the student body, Spectrum and Cal) and I worked on interviewing candidates for the AY 20-21 board position including that of President. While I had never actively sought the role of President of Spectrum, I somehow I found myself as its first nonspeaking President for the upcoming year. 

A silver lining: Carbon emissions dropped dramatically across the world. Animals were rediscovering terrain they had been driven out of before. Nature seemed to be coming alive. 

May

May brought the "shelter-at-home" finals exams but no relief with respect to the coronavirus. 
My grades: Still hanging onto that 4.0 GPA. 

June

In the larger world Black Lives Matter movement gathered momentum with the protests against police brutality against Blacks. A memorial at the end of my street to the fallen bears testimony. 

I found myself busy with other things too. I was attending the 13 week Virtual Crip Camp which was such an interesting experience each week. There were even after parties. 

I was in a Stanford Neurodiversity Design Workshop. 

I was part of a Supported Decision Making Focus group. 

I kept writing for the  Daily Cal: Fixed

July 

Jul 17:  I got the chance to co-moderate a conversation with the one and only Judy Heumann on AAC, disability policy, activism, and much more. AAC Users chat with Disability Rights Legend, Judy Heumann 

Articles in the Daily Cal: #1Authentic Representation in Media #2 Superfest Shorts

July 26.  Quite the biggest surprise of my life, I think. I got a mention on President Obama's Instagram, that too on the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. 

August

8/13: I presented at the UCSB Disability Studies Initiative Summer Speaker Series. My presentation titled Potential and Possibities through a Disability Justice Lens  can be seen at the link.  

8/27: Just before college reopened I was in a Coronavirus Information Series with the Autism Society of America in a conversation with Chris Banks, President of ASA. College Advocacy and Beyond - Autism Society of America 

I start an internship with NeuroNav. 

Articles in the Daily Cal: #1ADA in Color , #2 Disability Visibility, , 

The fall semester at college was to be all online. To be frank, I was getting quite zoom fatigued already. 

My fifth semester leading the Autism DeCal at UC Berkeley. All remote this time. The classes were to be 2 hours long. So more lecture content was introduced. 

Even before its first formal board meeting, Spectrum at Cal was participating in the Mental Health Week events with 2 events of our own "Autistics Belong, An Intro to Spectrum" and "How to be an ally to Neurodivergents". More zoom meetings of course. 

September

California went through another year of crazy wildfires. Last year we were only affected by the smoke with a blanket of toxic air descending on us form fires up north. This year fires were close to home - a lot of places within the Bay Area evacuated. And with it the toxic air. 

Sep 9: Spectrum at Cal first Board Meeting for the semester. 

I co-authored this section from the Stanford Rebuild Project Anxiety as Comorbidity in Neurodiversity  which I had started towards the end of summer. 

Invited to be part of a Delphi panel by AASPIRE for an AutPROM Toolbox - a set of Patient-Reported Outcome Measures  that can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of services for autistic adults. What I enjoyed about this ex which ran through December was that it ran parallel to my Research Methods course which discussed the theoretical and statistical aspects of scale creation, so it was like seeing theory and real life application unfold at the same time. These are scales you read about in Psychology and I got see and comment on 50 of them. 

DeStigmatizing Autism: Conversation with Berkeley Seniors on their "Spilling the Cha Podcast" - where Eli and I discuss Spectrum StudentOrg , the Autism Decal and living with Autism.
Articles in the Daily Californian: The Social Dilemma. 

Articles in the NeuroNav Newsletter # Silver Linings & Creative Workarounds #  NeuroNav Launches SDP, # Meet Your Navigator Sabrina Kappe # The Making of a Social Impact Organization

October: 

SpectrumAtCal held its own Black Autistic Lives Matter event.

I presented at the Stanford Neurodiversity Summit. Hari As Possibility: College Track.
October is Disability Awareness Month and Daily Cal came out with their first every Disability Special Issue. Quite ironic given that UC Berkeley is considered the birthplace of the disability rights movement. But really it better late than never and I'm so happy I was able to really get this issue off the ground and play a huge role in it besides writing 2 pieces for it. 

Articles in the Daily Californian #1 Born into the ADA. # This is our Campus too. Disability in Higher Ed #3 Blackness, Blindness and Audio Description. 

Articles in  NeuroNav Newsletter #1 Vote because you can, vote because you should #2 The Future of a very tall very Berry Hibiscus #3 Designing Tools & Training for Independent Faciltators

Somewhere in between were interesting academic courses, midterms and two projects.

November 

The year seemed to be rushing towards an end even as the turmoil of the political landscape was mentally stressing and endlessly exhausting. 

A busy month with three personal events and a video 

Transitions to Adulthood - ASAN Gala Panel 

Log Kya Kahenge (What will people say!) - Abelism in the South Asian Community
ACL Panel. A cross-group campus event. 

A Video on Why I vote for Disability Rights CA. 

A fever pitch buildup to the Elections. 

Articles in the NeuroNav Newsletter #1 The Importance of Gratitude #2 Love Each Other and wear a Mask

Spectrum at Cal held its acceptance week with a Research Panel and a Policy Panel. 

December

Dec 2: Prof. Victor Pineda said he'd nominated me to be on the Doha Debates show - how can you turn down a request like that. This year Doha Debates with host Nelufar Hedayat, was running a #DearWorldLive series addressing critical issues around the globe. The  Disability Justice Special on Dear World Live  was on Dec 2, UN International Persons with Disability Day. I was the student voice asking questions of the amazing Judy Heumann and Haben Girma 

Doha Debates also asked me for a separate message for World Disability Day. Here is my message on Inclusion and Belonging. 

Dec 3: The Opportunity of Education - Speaker at Neurodiversity: A Paradigm Shift, Conf by University College, Dublin, Ireland (video not up yet) 

Two Projects due. For my stigma & prejudice class and one to be done all in R for my Statistics Class. 

I'm super proud of all that SpectrumAtCal has been able to accomplish this semester despite it being a remote semester. We also kicked off a new Peer-to-Peer Mentorship program by partnering with WeEmbrace amongst other things. 

Final exams: Yes!! with the 4.0 GPA intact. I love my courses at Cal. 

Dec 22: I play host with guest, ASA CEO, Chris Banks for Autism Society of America's Coronavirus Information Series Year End Recap.

Covid: US/World , Cases 18.3K/77.9 Deaths 323K/1.71M

The elections are over but why still so much uncertainty. 

Mentally it has been a rough year. I have felt that I may have regressed in some areas that are more obvious and in ways I am not quite able to define. 

In a way I'm glad I had a lot of activities and work to mentally occupy my mind, there have been some amazing silver linings for me this year, so I can't say that 2020 has been a total wash.