(Inspired by the Now movement started by Derek Sivers — nownownow)
Updated October 2025 from London, UK

What I am doing now

I’m currently involved in research on higher education, focusing on audit trails, a method that offers an innovative response to the challenges posed by AI. Instead of resisting technology, audit trails help make reasoning visible and foster metacognitive development.

Alongside this, I’ve been developing a behavioural pilot on student engagement, born from my own experience as a student. Seminars are meant to be spaces for active learning, for dialogue, curiosity, and growth, but too often they become passive and constrained by social norms or performance pressure.

As I’ve been working on the audit trail research, I’ve realised how much universities still focus on outcomes rather than processes. With AI, that gap becomes even wider: it’s easy to produce something polished, but harder to feel like you’ve learned. The pilot aims to bring the focus back to learning as a process and to help students engage meaningfully, build confidence, and make the most of their experience beyond grades.

After graduating, I felt completely lost, so working on something that supports students feels grounding and full of purpose. I want to help build trust between students and educators, to work with them, for them, and as someone who still remembers what it feels like to be in their place.

Doing all this has also taught me a lot: how slow universities can be, how much bureaucracy you have to deal with, and how not everyone has time for you (and that’s fine!). I’ve learned to stay patient, organised, and keep things moving, especially when it’s all uphill. I’ve refined my skills in writing, research, communication and organisation. Working largely on my own has made me disciplined, patient, and better at navigating ethics procedures, stakeholder relationships, and the sometimes-chaotic tempo of institutional life.

Work

Even before graduating, I was already trying to find an internship to fill the time I knew I’d have after finishing university. I wanted to create my own opportunities, so I emailed what felt like every behavioural science for public good organisation in the world. I think I sent around forty requests and I got a long list of “ no” and a bunch of nothing at all.

When I finally graduated and all I had was a pile of rejections, I felt lost. I had no plan, no sense of purpose, and it disappointed me to realise how few spaces there are for students to talk about that. Everyone rushes into jobs or master’s degrees without stopping to figure out who they are or what they even want to do.

Meanwhile, LinkedIn was full of those identical “thrilled to announce” posts, all with the same tone, the same words, the same staged enthusiasm. It made me uncomfortable. Maybe because I didn’t have something to post myself, or maybe because it all felt forced. There’s so much pressure to prove you’re doing something “next,” as if standing still for a second means you’re failing.

But in hindsight, those rejections were a blessing. They gave me time to think, to redirect, to build my own projects and learn by doing. Being independent is honestly one of the most rewarding things I’ve experienced. I love deciding what to do, when, and how. I like being my own boss — and maybe in the future, who knows, I’ll actually be one. Maybe I’ll start my own business.

I might not have a signed contract, but I have purpose, experience, and a genuine sense that I’m building something on my own terms.

Independence

A few days ago my sister asked if I wanted to join the PoliRun in Milan. I said yes, ran 5 km that day, nearly collapsed, and two days later ran 8.3 km in 47 minutes.

Running has always been part of me in one way or another. Looking back, though, I used to approach it very differently, more as something I had to do, not something to enjoy or reflect on. When I was younger, I did all kinds of sports and it never felt like a chore. Then school happened, and suddenly sport became tied to performance, if you weren’t good, you’d get a bad grade, or not get picked for a team. You leave school associating sport with failure.

It’s been about two months since I started pilates, walking (a lot — I walk almost everywhere now), and running again. I know not everyone has the flexibility or time for that, and I don’t take it for granted. What I’m really happy about is how different my mindset feels now.

I run with no music, learning to connect my breath, body, and mind. I break runs into small, manageable goals (e.g. get to the yellow boat, make it to that tree). It’s teaching me patience, rhythm, and mindfulness. I notice when I need to slow down, to listen to my surroundings, to my breath.

It’s also teaching me that consistency beats pressure every time. There’s resilience in showing up for yourself, quietly, without overthinking. And it’s fun, a way to explore, to clear my head, to feel present.

I feel healthier, stronger, and more in tune with myself than I have in years. Grateful for my legs, my breath, and for the simple fact that I can move!

Movement and Balance

Lately, I’ve been falling into a TED Talk spiral (the good kind). One that really stuck with me was about how breaking big goals into smaller, consistent tasks can change your life. The speaker lives in London and used this method to learn German, knit, and do a dozen other things I immediately wanted to try as well!

So I started small too. I’ve been listening to the Duolingo Spanish podcast — around forty episodes so far. It’s not easy to do it every day; some days I can’t focus or don’t feel like listening to anything. But when I do, I catch myself feeling closer to the language again. I studied Spanish for 8 years and I’d like to use it more in real life.

I’ve also been thinking a lot about my recent trip to China, how much I loved it, how comfortable I felt there. It reminded me how much I want to travel again, to learn languages, to connect. Spanish feels like a good bridge back into that global rhythm.

And on a completely different note, I’ve been reading Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. I’ve got a few thoughts about it but I want to let them mature before I share them.

Learning