“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future."
One of my favorite quotes from Steve Jobs’ Stanford Commencement speech is about connecting the dots. This quote resonates deeply with me because, both personally and professionally, I’ve faced numerous setbacks, challenges, and experiences—some wins, some losses. At the time, many of these moments didn’t feel significant or even positive, but looking back, they all led me to where I am today and allowed everything to make sense in hindsight.
I recently reflected on a random machine learning talk I attended years ago. Honestly, I only went because a grad school friend wanted free pizza that was being offered at the event. At the time, I had no idea what Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, or Machine Learning even meant, let alone how they could apply to my life. Fast forward a few years, and I was struggling to solve an image denoising problem at work. That’s when I remembered some of the ideas presented in that talk. After a few days of research and diving into these algorithms, I developed an optimal solution to the problem based on concepts I’d heard back then. That experience sparked my fascination with the field and eventually led me to focus on teaching these topics today.
What are some moments in your life where you’ve been able to “connect the dots”?