Work context
Sensei is an incoming CMU School of Computer Science (SCS) student, Class of 2030, admitted via Early Decision, currently finishing senior year at Concordia International School Shanghai. Andrew ID is active. Sensei holds U.S. citizenship and grew up in Shanghai.
Personal context
Sensei is a music producer working under the alias Athmyx (Artcore/melodic DnB, FL Studio), with stylistic influences including Feryquitous, Sakuzyo, and Camellia. Sensei has an elaborate original creative universe called Selenith (裂月纪) with a constructed language (Selenar, 51 phonemes, three-tier writing system, VOS word order), original characters, and associated visual art. Other projects include a rhythm game (Paradigm Reboot) with reverse-engineered chart format, a custom bowed instrument design (QX-1/泣弦), and an independent mathematical manuscript on Yang-Mills mass gap using lattice gauge theory and transfer matrix methods. Sensei has a girlfriend named Joanna, also a student at Concordia.
Top of mind
Sensei recently completed extensive multi-city Southeast Asia trip planning (Shanghai → Kuala Lumpur → Singapore), including detailed flight analysis, accommodation strategy, baggage optimization, and itinerary sequencing—with a local contact (Cecilia) in KL’s OUG area potentially providing free accommodation. Sensei is also actively researching fashion brands across Chinese and international markets, having recently explored Hollister, Birkenstock, Carhartt WIP, and related streetwear context. English reading development remains active, with Project Hail Mary as a current reading target and a concrete 12-week improvement plan discussed.
Brief history
Recent months
CMU logistics have been a sustained focus: housing selection (top preference: Residence on Fifth Apartment Triple), meal plan selection (Red Plan recommended, with Yellow Plan downgrade path if assigned to Rez Fifth), first-year course schedule planning (15-122, 15-151, 21-241, 07-128, 07-131, with 57-171 music technology and potential 15-322 for FL Studio/Nyquist alignment), and AP credit assessment (BC 5 exempts 21-120 and 21-122; AP Chinese and AP Lang yield 21 units). Sensei’s English proficiency situation has been analyzed in depth: ACT English 20 and TOEFL 96 are likely underestimates of true ability given AP Lang 5, academic writing output, and self-reported reading speed on Project Hail Mary; the recommended path is immersive reading over structured study. The Yang-Mills proof manuscript reached version 30+, with a conditional theorem (contingent on Polyakov’s conjecture) assessed as publishable at venues like Communications in Mathematical Physics; remaining technical gaps identified around ρ* lower bounds. Sensei completed an Apologetics final project on Pascal’s Wager (presented before a panel on 5/21), worked through AP World History DBQ preparation (Kenya decolonization, Cold War), and finished NHD China (March 21 at Concordia). Suit purchasing for a dress code event was researched extensively, settling on Suitsupply as the top recommendation.
The Paradigm Reboot chart editor project reached an advanced stage: Sensei independently reverse-engineered the game’s multi-layer runtime encryption, extracted readable chart source files, and loaded modified charts back into the official client. The MSV chart format was fully decoded. A web-based editor (SvelteKit or Next.js with Canvas 2D) was recommended for public distribution, with the loading mechanism kept separate for legal risk management.
Relationship dynamics with Joanna have been an ongoing theme, including mutual acknowledgment of feelings, analysis of emotional patterns, and navigation of the upcoming geographical separation due to CMU enrollment.
Earlier context
Sensei built a comprehensive CMU application strategy over two and a half years, deliberately targeting CMU SCS specifically: attending CMU’s NHSGA pre-college program to secure a recommendation from Professor Chris Klug, producing a VR game (Pentamania) and game jam project (CSC), writing a J-Core music analysis paper (EWA 2024, with DOI), publishing Domain Echoing (rhythm game with 30+ original tracks), and building the VST plugin MorphLab (JUCE/C++). The application succeeded while UC Berkeley, UCLA, UIUC, Georgia Tech, and UW rejected. A detailed post-mortem analysis confirmed the strategic design was effective.
Earlier in the school year: extensive Colossians 3 Bible study assignment work, Reagan Challenger speech analysis, Gettysburg Address analytical paragraph, Water Margin (范进中举) classical Chinese literature analysis, AP World History DBQ on CCP-peasant relations, Kenya decolonization poster project, and balsa glider/powered airplane aerospace engineering journal articles for Dr. Peter Tong’s AL Aerospace Engineering course.
Technical projects included: macOS disk management and partition recovery, ASIO4ALL audio troubleshooting leading to USB interface purchase research, Respondus LockDown Browser security vulnerability research (responsible disclosure report drafted), digital SAT/Bluebook security architecture analysis, GitHub SSH authentication setup, and Claude Code usage limit troubleshooting.
Long-term background
Sensei has a deep competitive mathematics background: USAMO qualifier, USACO Platinum, ARML Top 100, ACSL national gold, AMC 132/AIME 14, AP Calculus BC 5. Music production in Artcore/DnB has been a years-long creative identity, with the Athmyx brand and athmyx.com established. The Selenith worldbuilding project (裂月纪), including Selenar conlang design, predates recent conversations. Early technical projects include browser extension development, game server reverse engineering (Arcaea private server), and full-stack web development. Sensei’s interest in frontier physics—Yang-Mills, strange quark matter, Bodmer-Witten conjecture, lattice QCD—has been a consistent intellectual thread, framed around long-term goals involving interstellar travel and fundamental scientific understanding.