Hello World!

Hi! My name is Ian, and I’m a high school student in the Bay Area. Like many other students in my neighborhood, I’ve been pushed down the STEM path since I was small, being “volunteered” into AOPS classes since elementary school. However, I’ve also always loved reading from a young age. During vacations, I’d always bring my trustworthy Kindle around, transporting myself to far away worlds during long plane trips.

I put down reading for a while when I got to high school. I would really only read our required texts, and these felt like enough for the time being, as I was still adjusting to the heavier workload. After a while, though, I began to think about reading again. I started with science fiction, then had a short nonfiction phase. Then, I found Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. That got me into reading more classics.

After a few more books, I decided I wanted a bigger challenge. What better book than War and Peace, a famously long novel that was commonly ridiculed for its length? Although I didn’t know anything about it except for its length and name, I picked it up and started reading. And after almost a year of adventure through antique ballrooms, the idyllic Russian countryside, a burning Moscow, and exciting battlefields, I found that this book had captured my attention in such a spectacular way and added a certain fulfillment to my life that no textbook could.

I’m not creating this website to say that we should only study novels or that textbooks are inherently bad. I’ve also grown to enjoy reading about STEM and discovering our natural world. I’m simply saying that I believe that both the humanities and STEM are necessary in my life.

So, I created this blog, Stem and Roots, as a collection of some of my thoughts about the humanities as a STEM student. Perhaps you’re also a Bay Area resident, looking for a way to temporarily escape. Perhaps you’re just a curious person who somehow stumbled across this blog floating amidst the vast interwebs. Anyways, you’re welcome to look around! Take all the time you need!