In this inspiring episode, we sit down with Aldous Heaf, a standout participant from the Gifted Talented program, to explore his incredible journey with ADHD. Aldous opens up about how he's turned ADHD from a perceived weakness into a superpower, sharing his experiences in education, resilience, and his passion project, ECHO—a unique video game blending nature and technology. Tune in to hear Aldous's perspective on navigating life with ADHD, creating opportunities from challenges, and his efforts to promote social impact through innovative projects. This conversation sheds light on overcoming obstacles and finding purpose, offering inspiration to anyone facing similar challenges.

00:00 Introduction to Aldous Heaf

00:32 Engineering Opportunities and Mentorship

03:14 Passion for STEM and Education

10:51 Overcoming ADHD, Dyslexia, and Personal Growth

20:37 How Aldous Redefined Learning Methods

36:57 Cultural Insights from Ghana and Global Learning

45:24 Future Aspirations and Work Philosophy

46:46 Balancing Happiness and Discipline

48:12 Conclusion: Reflections on Resilience, ADHD, and Educational Growth

Hello everyone, welcome. Today I'm talking to Aldous Heaf. He was part of the G-SET program for Gifted Talented and he's honestly just such a remarkable individual. Today we are going through a lot of topics such as ADHD, how has it impacted his life, has he turned it from a weakness into a superpower. We talk about...

We talk about the importance of resilience and we talk about why he's put so much effort into his projects with us. It's called ECHO. It's an amazing video game that he's developing and we're just kind of going through the history of all of these things. So stick around, stay tuned. All right.

How are you doing today?

So it's like since GATI a lot has been going on. just find it insane. Like, so for example, at my school, I'm setting up an engineering program so that we bring in some of the top engineers in Portland to our school to do lectures. So for example, I'm drafting an email right now to the head of engineering at Nike to get him to Callen Gable and talk about what he does and his role at his job.

Tell me about it, tell me about it.

And right now I have talked to, think, eight college professors asking which ones should I reach out to, who can I reach out to, and who do you think will respond? And I hope to not only do a seminar each month, but have a day at the end of the year where all these people come in and do have a bunch of different stalls and people get to talk to them about the design. Maybe they bring in a shoe before it's been through the manufacturing process.

Mm-hmm.

and all of that and how that system works. So that's what I'm doing.

What kind of brought your passion into this?

So since UCI, I've actually had a lot of thought about what is a role, right? And to be honest, when I see a place or something that's cool, I want to join it, but it never really fit me. Like I don't like just art. I don't like just engineering. I like a mix of it. So I'm trying to learn how to build my own role and

Mm-hmm.

create new spaces for people so that it gives me more opportunity and others more opportunity when they take the place of my role. So I plan to run this program for three, for the next three years. I'm in high school. So it's starting off now, but hopefully when I leave, it'll be continued on.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Okay, awesome. Wow. Okay. You're already doing so much and it's been so little time. All right. we mentioned a few times UCI X GATI or just UCI. What is that program? I'm going explain that program a little quickly. So it's part of a gifted talented program. What we do is we partner with universities and we have this little summer camp thing and

they, the students come here, they learn, they, learn from many very, very renowned professors, renowned scientists or otherwise. And they make a capstone project and pitch to investors. So one thing I actually want to talk about with you, Aldous is, your project ECHO It really resonated with me. even remember like when you were pushing it to the investors, a lot of the parents who are watching, they started tearing up.

So tell me about ECHO, tell me how it started and tell me what was your passion with it.

So how it started was, it was a really interesting start. So ever since when I got there, it felt, I was a bit confused about the program, honestly, because it markets itself in a very good way, but in a way that means that we almost aren't expecting what's about to happen. So for example, we start, it tells us about the gaming program and how it's very powerful in gaming.

But then you realize it's not just gaming, it's entrepreneurship. And this entrepreneurship really pushes you into thinking, what is your role in society? And ever since I was a kid, I've loved nature. And to be know a lot of people would say that, but I have a grandfather who has spent his entire life in nature recording sound. And recently, I think two years ago, he taught me how to record. And he taught me this because he's dying.

He got cancer four years ago and he was given a life expectancy of two years. He's gone two years past the limit and he wanted to pass it down. He wanted to pass down. He has the largest collection of sounds in the world recorded by one human. has animals that no longer exist and animals that we didn't even know existed until, you know.

I'm so sorry,

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

He went around. And the thing about his work is it aligns with my ideology, but I don't know how I can implement my skills because ever since I was like born, I've been raised into a technology household. How does technology improve our feelings? But that's the thing with nature and technology. They never seem to fit together. It's never together. It's always on either side of an argument.

And what I wanted to do is bring them together. So how do we level out technologies evil side of the algorithm and taking you in with nature? So for example, I found that people nowadays spend 13 hours looking down at the phone each day on average. That is insane. Like genuinely think about that. That is, I think.

That's half your day.

90 % because you're sleeping the other time. So it's like 90 % of your day. So 90 % of your life is spent sleeping and or just looking at your phone. But a way to counteract that is ECHO. So our group started talking about what is the best way to take this and make it better and get rid of this algorithm and make people feel comfortable.

Yeah, yeah.

Mm-hmm.

in enjoying nature. So we decided, how do we get their attention? So cutting them off, it's the easiest way to do it. So making it so there's a set time on things and stuff like that. But then we realized there's only a company that does that. That's not special. That's called, there's an app called Opal. I use it and it's an amazing app, but it doesn't have one thing. When you

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

quit when it forces you to quit, I can just go back into the app and just change it, make it so I can go back on. To be honest, it's an infinite cycle. It turns it off and you turn it on. And the way that we decided to do it is what if we could make them want to use our app instead of Instagram? So instead of being an app that just blocks, it's its own individual app. So we decided

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

You

What brings, what gives people a sense of calm? What gives people a sense of almost ability to just relax? It's sounds and environments. And funnily enough, one of us had access to the largest collection in the world. So.

Yeah.

I actually found it really really amazing and one thing I did notice that you do throughout the camp is that you were working really hard you weren't sleeping a lot of the time and and your group worked your butt off and and I realize now that the reason why you guys work so hard is it wasn't just a game to you specifically because it was part of your grandpa's legacy

It was a way to carry it down or combine your skills with his and create something to bring forth his legacy and pass it down.

Yeah. And it's why I think, sorry, continue.

and

sorry. I just wanted to say, can you tell me more about the game? What do do when the game was a perp? Like that kind of stuff.

So the game is the only game, I think, one of the only games that wasn't really a game there. It was more a Spotify type environment where you're a fox, a white fox, going through these environments. And when you're in an environment, you hear the sounds of this environment. And when you're interacting with the environment, for example, you're fishing.

Mm-hmm.

or swimming, you hear these sounds. And it's almost like an ambiance that allows you to just listen and relax. So like lo-fi study girl mixed with Spotify, mixed with Opal. So those three. And...

Yeah.

Wow, okay, so if I understand it, I can just go in your game and with the sounds I can just switch to studying or to do any activity and I still have like the background calming music or the nature sounds or the animal sounds in the background, why do anything else? Okay, continue, yeah.

Yes. So that was the main idea. Then we decided we want this app to not only be an impact on the person, but on a global scale. So partnering with, for example, a national park, we had this idea and this was one of the strongest ways we think we could promote our game. So we decided that to promote our game,

Mm-hmm.

we would add a level of making this environment of the national park and then requesting sounds from them. And we would use that to make an environment for our game, then send it out and use that money to not only progress the, like the national park and it's like different, what do call it? No, it's not systems, but utilities.

Mm-hmm. Yeah, so so as I understand. Mm-hmm. Yeah finish. Sorry. Yeah

So for example, feeding plant life and feeding animal life. So we'd use it to re-contribute back to the nature that we're using to promote our game and help people.

So it's like mutually beneficial. Everything they give you, you give back to them. And then as you make these, let's say protected areas better, they give you more sounds and back and forth and back and forth. And overall it helps people because they don't use computers as much or like that kind of opal kind of part. And it makes their using computer experience better. But on top of that, you also help the word as well. That's wow. What can I say? That's amazing. And no wonder during...

Yeah.

Yeah.

During your presentation, I vividly remember that people were just tearing up because of just how touching it was, your whole topic. Wow, okay. Let's move on to the next thing. And I was actually wondering, one thing that you described to me previously was one of your biggest strengths was resilience. Can you elaborate on that, talk to me about that? How has resilience helped you navigate in life?

Yeah.

So it's funny because it's one thing that is a bit of a curse while also being the best thing I could have. So ever since I was younger, I've always wanted to put a twist on things. I've never really wanted to be like everyone else. And to be fair, it put me in a lot of bad places while also putting me in all the good places. So for example, when I was younger, I was always told I was doing something wrong in math. But what was I doing wrong?

Mmm.

Mm-hmm.

I couldn't understand. And when I found out it was a simple thing, but I was graphing the thing in my head before even putting it on paper. And I was constantly told I was wrong, but these things built up strengths and built up different abilities to do things in a different way. So even when I was told I was doing some math wrong, I built my own way of making it better, of being correct.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

but while holding what they wanted and also holding what I wanted. So mixing together the two things that were almost like beneficial and why a lot of people didn't like it, it was my way of doing things. And later we discovered that I had ADHD and dyslexia. And the reason I hadn't been, the reason I hadn't been diagnosed is because I didn't want to believe people. So when they told me I was bad at something, I'd be like, no.

Mm-hmm.

I'm better than you in it. And then did it until, and then I worked on it until I was better than them. So my dad, when I was younger, used to talk about how he was a better coder than me. I now can code seven languages and can code better than him in every single one of those languages.

That's amazing. So what you do is you start, I guess, a little slow and they say, yeah, I'm better than you. And you're like, no, I am better because I do it in different way and I work harder than you. That's actually one of the things, I guess, the limitations of ADHD, awesome that you bring it up, why most people who have ADHD struggle in the school system is because school system is built to reward sustained attention. And I'm assuming that's something you don't have, at least.

for specific topics that don't give you certain dopamine. To the viewers out there, ADHD is kind of... You lack reward deficiency, whereas all those happy dopamine hormones that go to your brain, you don't get them as much, and you only get them from certain things. And when you find a good source of dopamine, so these certain things, you kind of go overboard on it, and you can hyperfix ate

So that's one thing I saw you do, Aldous, is that when you had enough dopamine from, let's say, the project that you did for us, ECHO Gifted Talented, you had so much dopamine, you hyperfix ated and you got so much done. I think it's actually a superpower on your end. The reason why is because even though there's some things that I see that you lack, or let's say some things that you don't work as good as others, when you hyperfix ate and I assume from what you said to me is like,

Once people say they're better than you at certain things like coding, you're like, no, I can do a better than you. can do a more efficient than you and I will be better than you. I love that. I love that whole thing.

Thank you so much. That means a lot. but yeah, what I was, what I was saying is that I had been, so I developed skills because I'd been told that I wasn't good enough about certain things that meant my ADHD and dyslexia no longer had downsides. So I just viewed things differently. So I'm the only kid who has ADHD or dyslexia in my math class.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

which is on his pre-calc at the moment. and then it's just all these different things, all these classes I'm taking. I find that I'm either the only one or one of like two. And it's because when I think it's interesting, because I think when people know they have HD and dyslexia before they have the ability to go around it, it harms them in some ways, because it means that

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, exactly.

they use as an excuse when it is an excuse, it's a different perspective. So.

That's exactly what I think. A lot of people, when they go out there, and this happens not just to the people who have it, these mental illnesses, it's the parents as well, where it's like, my kid has these ADHD or something along those lines, and I think their kid will never be normal, or will never surpass other people, or something along those lines, because it's this excuse, and then it affects your entire parenting style.

or like if you're the one who has ADHD, affects your complete lifestyle to where, let's say this, you have an obstacle that you want to go across or go over and you can almost just go over it and then you fail. And the reason you fail is because your mind just tells you, hey, you have ADHD, you don't have to be that good and you give up. And I think that's one thing that you pointed out that's really good that, and I hate that people do, is that they use ADHD as an excuse. One thing I love about you actually is that

Mm.

You use it as a superpower to push yourself forward. It's like, people think I'm worse because I have ADHD. No, I'm going to show them that I'm way better than them.

Yeah. and I think, thank you. So again, it's, I, what I would say is that when I was at GATI not only did it give me more dopamine than I've almost ever had on one topic, I was surrounded by the right people. While some people I didn't get to know as well because they view life a bit differently and they don't talk as much.

Hahaha

they were still interesting. Everyone there was interesting. So for example, I go up to a person and or just meet them randomly through a random course of events. And we'd instantly be friends and it never be around the same topic either. For example, one person I talked about how gravity simulations aren't so confusing the entire time.

So, and then the other person, we completely bonded over music. So there's a mix of creativity, EQ, and then there's a mix of IQ in there that meant that we could all talk and understand each other's best. And what I almost wish that I always wish we had more time, because then at the start we could have gotten to know everyone and then we could have picked our teams. then it was like,

Mm-hmm.

Uh-huh. That makes sense. That makes sense.

We started off in groups and we were so instantly, we all hit it off with our groups and immediately were like chains. I don't think, I think maybe a few groups didn't have this, but our group, while it was chaotic, it was amazing. And

Mm-hmm. Yeah, that's the effect of when you're surrounded by, I guess, people who have the same drive as you, people who have not necessarily the same genius or talents as you, but the same drive to go above and beyond, to push themselves forward. When you surround yourself with people like that and a whole environment of that, you're gonna want to go the extra mile. And that's the double mean here, because you're surrounded by these people who all wanna go the extra mile. That's what I loved about that program.

Yeah, it really showed me who I want to be. And something I took away from it was almost, we don't, it's an interesting thing that I was thinking about while I was there is we, tomorrow isn't guaranteed. So pick who you're going to be today.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

because every day I had two weeks there. That was no time at all. But each day I had to decide who I was going to be and how I would act. And each day I had to decide, am I either going to bring everyone up with me or am I bringing just my group? And the thing is, by bringing everyone up with you,

Mm-hmm.

we all set our standards higher, meaning that our group would set our standards higher. So together, we all raised and pushed each other because we knew everyone else was doing hard work. So we all tried our hardest. And that's what I loved so much about that program. And while it was also incredibly difficult, I loved every moment of it. And the amount of bonding we got to do was just insane.

Yeah.

Exactly.

Mm-hmm. Yeah tomorrow is not guaranteed so pick who you are today that I actually love that quote and and the reason why is because There's this this whole thing and everyone does it now. It's become more and more popular. It's called procrastination And and it's it's not just procrastination. It's also laziness like today I wake up I don't need to get this work done. I can get it done tomorrow It's not to do that yet or today I wake up and I don't need to to the gym something along those lines and and

The hard part about that is that technically there's always tomorrow. So I think what's really good there is that you guys had the chance, all of you had the chance to be your best selves, to show everyone what you had in you and to kind of push yourself to your limits. And when everyone did that, it was actually magical. People got projects like these capstone projects.

that would take normal university students. They would take university students maybe half a year to do. You guys got it done in two weeks and you guys did a really, really, really good job.

you know one thing that I actually love is how you look at your ADHD, your dyslexia. So talk to me about how has it ever been a challenge in your life and how have you, the whole mindset of turning it into a benefit, into a superpower.

Walk me through the entire thing. Cause you did mention briefly that some people use excuses and blah blah blah blah. But exactly what experiences have you had? Cause we're definitely gonna have viewers out there who have either parents whose kids have ADHD or the kids just themselves listening to this has ADHD. So talk to me about it.

So.

Mm-hmm.

When I was younger, I was in the English school system, right? And I was horrible at tests, to be honest. And I never understood why though. Because in my head, I got the answer, right? So I could, if someone told me, yeah, you can't do this, you're stupid, I'd be like, no, I've done it every time. just, I don't know how to say it. I can do it. I just don't know how to say it out loud. I can't pay attention enough to say it, but...

Mm-hmm.

Then, and my dyslexia came in where I just couldn't do well on tests. Like it made it hard time, hard to see and reading hard to do, which meant tests were kind of a bum for me. But in like in the English school system, it's all based on test taking, right? So I was just failing and failing and failing, but I got all of the homework right. So I couldn't see what's going on.

Yeah, that's weird. No, I had a very similar experience. I'm not, I don't have ADHD, but I have a lot of the symptoms of hyperactivity. was studying it, I'm in human behavior, and I was studying ADHD, and there's a list of symptoms in the DSM-5 for hyperactivity. And then I was studying it with my girlfriend, and then she was like, you have this, you have this one, you have this I'm like, okay.

but it's because I... yeah... yeah...

But anyways, so all these experiments have the same thing, but continue, I cut you off, yeah?

What was it? Then I was thinking, why am I not doing right? And then I gave up. To be honest, I gave up. It was where my resilience finally broke through. was 10 years of being told, you can't do it. You're wrong. You're stupid. To be honest, I believed it. I believed I was not intelligent when it was just, I did it in a different way. So when I moved to the American school system, well, okay, firstly, let's make something clear.

England tested me. I got a test in England to see if I had ADHD and dyslexia, but it didn't pick up. It picked up nothing. So something's up, right? And then...

Mm.

Mmm.

No, that's definitely one of the things about mental, like DSM and whole diagnosis is it varies based off of the practitioner, the person who's diagnosing you. It varies very, very differently.

Yeah. But you'll see why it didn't pick up. It's interesting. I've, there's a whole story. And then when I was in America, they started noticing these signs where I was put one of the, for my first year in America, I failed so badly on the math test that I was put in like the regular class on my, on the honors math test because I was years ahead in England, but I was, I was put in the regular class, but I was way too good for the regular class.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Okay.

when it came to class, but way too bad to take tests in the honours class. So they just sat me down and cool math games the entire time. And I was, they was put in the middle because they couldn't decide what to do with me. So the next year I took another test and my mum, I think made me study like a hundred hours for that test. So that I passed and I passed, I passed and now to do it. And then I went through a course of

Yeah.

You

That's weird.

Yikes. Mm-hmm.

Not understanding what I was doing, like not well, giving up, going back to it again, being told I was bad at it, going back at it stronger until I hit a teeth, until I hit eighth grade and I had a teacher. I'm not going to the name, but let's call her. Let's call her Ann Mui. Sure. No, Ann Mui. Sorry. Like it's an old English name. Let's just call it Ann.

Mmm.

Billy and Mui. Sure.

Okay, yeah.

And, and taught me exactly how I wanted to do math by telling me about what I had. So she was like, why, why can't you do math? I'm like, I don't know. And she'd be like, you've just growled for me a piecewise function. Why can't you tell me what the math is? I'm like, don't know. It just, it's like, it's there in my head. And she's, she was confused because.

Haha.

Mm-hmm.

It was geometry at the time. So every other class, every other note on me from every teacher was he's not good at math. Whereas in this class, I was passing with flying colors. So was faster than everyone because it was all visual. So she told me, you should probably get that checked out because you are doing better than everyone this year, but not the last year or the year before. And that's when the math is. And next year, if you don't

Yeah.

And in high school, if you don't have accommodations for this, you are screwed. So I realized, okay, I have to the test. And I think it was like my 10th time begging my parents to give me a test for ADHD and dyslexia. And they finally did it because my parents, I have the same thing as my dad, right? My dad thinks the same as me and processes information the same as me. So we were like, he doesn't have ADHD.

Mmm.

Yeah.

never tested, but he doesn't have ADHD. And so I don't, that's how it was viewed. And then I got the test and they were like, we don't know. And it was meant to be a decisive test. was like, yes or no. And it wasn't, it was completely undecisive. So they made me take another year worth of testing. So it was a year long test taking process because of how difficult it was.

Mm-hmm.

Yikes.

And they found out the reason it was so hard to test me was because I have something called invisible ADD and dyslexia. So it's, it's a really rare trait, but it happens when a kid is raised without dyslexia and ADHD when they have it. So I was raised in a way that meant I didn't, I wasn't allowed to have them. So I made skills that when it came to testing things that did test ADHD and dyslexia.

Mmm.

Whoa.

Yeah, yeah.

I got around them.

Ohhhh

Because you use those skills in your daily lives and those skills, I mean, I guess they test completely parallel to daily lives. So if you can survive daily lives having ADHD and dyslexia, you can go through these tests, doing it in your own way, but still passing them and showing them that you don't have ADHD and dyslexia, but instead you just kind of put crutches on or something to get through it. I see. Okay. Yeah.

Yeah. So it was, they were super, they wrote like 99 pages on just me, which was insane to me. And it was like the amount of tests, the amount of tests they had on me was insane. felt, I think by the end of it, I was a bit fed up because I felt like a lab rat. It was, I was the only person in that, like in that office to ever figure out every single one of their tests and exactly what they were doing. And they got really upset at me.

I wanna study you now.

Yeah.

Because every time I did that, they'd like, you can't tell anyone. I'd be like, why? And they'd be like, then it screws up the test. And I'd be like, but I just, why does it, like, how does that affect it? Because I just took the test and I knew exactly what it was. And she was like, this is why we're making you take a year's worth of testing. So they found out over very small things, actually. So for example, I had the highest IQ.

What?

Yeah, the pressure just being into it.

Okay.

they've had in a long time when it comes to visual reasoning, right? But when it came to literacy at a fast pace, had like an IQ of maybe 70. So I had like, I had something like, I had like 230 when it came to visual and then like 70. Yeah. No, wait, what was it? It was something stupid.

Mmm.

That's... okay that's a little low.

Yeah. 230? Acure doesn't go that high.

IQ is 100, standard deviation 10.

Okay, that works. Thank you. I can check it right now. I think it was something insane. So I took a, I took a, they made.

You're good. You're good.

Yeah, IQ averages 100, standard deviation is 10. Think about it like this, if you have IQ of under 85, the military won't train you because it's harder to make you productive than it is to make you, like to leave you as unproductive. They have to spend so many resources to make sure that you're not unproductive. So having IQ that high, that low is crazy.

Yeah, I'm just, I'm checking something. I'm, I'm, actually have the document pulled up on my,

Okay.

I didn't you know, I didn't know you have these things it makes sense It makes a lot of sense and you know, the best part is it makes sense that I like talking to you so much I like talking to people with ADHD so much just cuz when I talk to people who don't have it I jump around topics so fast and no one can keep up and then if I talk with someone who has ADHD Like like no one else can follow our conversation just because how fast it goes everywhere all over the place So it makes a lot of sense to me. Yeah

You

Yeah, I found it, I found it. It wasn't... It's 200 plus when it comes to visual reasoning. It doesn't specify. It just... Yeah, I'm deadass with this.

so you're serious? Okay so if we put you in the architecture world, it's over. You're like better than Beethoven of the architecture world. Wow.

You

So, well, it's very specific. It's really interesting how visual reasoning can be played out. And I thought, so the thing is when it comes to visual reasoning, the reason I'm good at it is because my brain sees patterns incredibly fast. So for example, in a, so when it comes to sequences and patterns, I never needed to do the calculations together. I just immediately got it. And it's why,

Mm-hmm.

Mmm. Yeah.

Like, I love puzzles so much and I hate the WeWorks cube, but everything else I love. But... So, it's... Yeah, that's basically what... They were like super... They were really odd about it because... They asked if they could continue talking to me about my ADHD and dyslexia and stuff like that and I really didn't want them to because I felt... To be fair, there should be a better way of testing it because I got... Like, by the end...

Yeah.

I was a bit sick of it and a bit upset by how I was treated because going in every weekend to a facility that's like, it's very, it feels very lab-ish, like sit in a room, do a test for 10 minutes. When you know what the test is, it feels pointless. So.

Mmm.

Yeah.

see, the best thing when you were little, you probably didn't, I mean, you might've recognized this is that how much you did for the psychology industry in regards to ADHD. I imagine you completely changed it. I don't know how, yeah. Yeah. Like I imagine what dumb testing you improve the past a lot, improve the detection of these invisible, I guess, ADHD and stuff like that a lot. it, and because you're smart enough that you can just go around it. They can.

a chance to design their tests and like hopefully it got better over time hopefully they can have a chance to design the tests so that it does track these things that people who are smarter can't get around it but okay yeah that's amazing wow do you sorry i cut you off what were you saying okay then i have a very fun question for you do you find board games horrendously boring because i do

I wasn't cut off at all.

depends on the board game.

Okay, so one thing, and it goes back to pattern recognition, but for me personally, it goes back to my study of game theory. It also goes back to this game that I play that I hate, League of Legends. Board games have very, very thin layers of complexity. They have very little, I guess, game theory application where the layers of complexity are only like five or six layers. Let's say for Monopoly, aside from most of it being randomized,

the only options you can do is trading and buying or selling properties and like a few other mechanics. And so the skill expression is not there because you recognize patterns super, super fast. Aren't these like, I guess boring because what you can min max, what kind of like skills you can apply to these board games is very, very limited.

Yeah. when thinking about it, I would say it's fun for different reasons. So for example, I made an AI recently that does min max, tick, toe and tick, tick, toe.

In the next what?

Tic-tac-toe, yeah?

So like it, it basically finds the best possible route and always goes for it, especially when it goes against you. And my goal wasn't to win against the AI. was to tie. So I played against this AI for like 30 minutes trying to figure out what it was. And then I placed it. I was messing around with random things and I immediately got it. So I like finding new ways to make board games harder.

Yeah.

Mmm.

And then implementing them. for example, in monopoly, I'd always like when we were playing family, I'd always see how much money can I get away with in one building? Like how much could I steal with one building maximum with the resources I'm given. And of course, like it gets simple after a few times, but once I've done that, I can move on. I no longer need to play that whole game in my

Mmm.

Yeah, so instead of you getting bored of board games, you add layers of complexity to kind of supplement it. I like that. I should definitely start doing that.

But-

Yeah, I create something that's, I create something that's difficult for me to do and then do it. So it's a bit. So the reason I don't like the Rubik's cube is because unless you really stare at it, I don't feel like the one I'm, I don't feel like I'm the one solving it. I feel like I'm copying another person's old answer book.

Okay.

Mmm.

Yeah, yeah.

And I'm not going to spend my entire life looking at a cue with 10 to the 52 combinations. So.

The whole thing about Rubik's Cube is that once you know how to solve it, once you know the pattern to solve it, all that changes is how fast you can recognize that pattern and how fast you can move your hands. And that's the two limits after you know the initial how to solve it and all those patterns.

Yeah.

which it's insane what you like the memorization you have to do. But I bet that all of some people who have taught themselves how to do it without the rule book. But I'm just saying like in my head, it's not as exciting because I like to teach myself how to do it. So like I always try and learn a new skill whenever I can from like coding video games to AI. Like I love messing around with that kind of stuff. So

Yeah.

Yeah.

Mmm.

When it comes to something like that, which I don't want to 52 years of my life doing, I find it not my thing.

Hmm

That makes sense. Wow, yeah, no.

It's almost like in Minecraft where everything's a really simple concept on the outside, right? Like hit a spider, go to the end, go to the nether. But on the inside, it's actually incredibly creative. Like how do you build a real working four bit comparator in Minecraft? So.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Mm-hmm. I love games like that that don't limit your creativity that lets you kind of Express your skill your your knowledge or as how far you can push the mechanics in the game and and you're right Minecraft is definitely one of the most Definitely one of the best platforms that has happened and definitely the most popular People made their own computer in Minecraft where you can play Minecraft in Minecraft Yeah

In Minecraft, yeah. It's even insane.

So, so another question I actually was interested in talking to you about was, tell us, tell us what is the most memorable or impactful experience that has made you who you are today.

So that's a difficult question, to be honest. And because I am a very nature and nurture kind of guy, believe some you are born with certain, I believe you are born with skills and deficits, but it's your choice how to apply them. So I find that I am always constantly being molded by the people around me. And I think the most impactful things that have

Yeah.

Mmm.

Mm-hmm.

really impacted me today were two things. A trip to Ghana last year with school and

UCI GATI to be honest. Yeah. So yeah. So I'd say I in Ghana, I had a lot of realization because for example, we are constantly told in media and culture that wealth is what makes people happy and being too wealthy means you're unhappy. And I was trying to think about why though.

Wow, let's talk about the trip to Ghana. Because we've spent the entire time talking about Yusegati.

Why is there that cap and why is there that underneath? And when I was in Ghana, I realized the cap is created by the underneath, but the underneath isn't really a thing. That's what we're told. So the people there are the poorest people in the world. And that's very honest. It's a fact. Like I'm not exaggerating here. It's true. And yet when I went there, they danced with us. They smiled the entire time. went...

Explain that. That's interesting.

Mm-hmm.

upset, they weren't depressed about it. They had more culture than anyone I've ever met. And they had more community. And I realized that you choose who you get to be. And not only do you choose whether you create if you can create a community around you, you can also choose how you view the world. So

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

For example, they chose to view the world in a way where we have community, we have love, have family, we have culture. And that's all we need. Whereas the American dream is always to have the next big thing. So.

That's actually exactly what I dislike and it's one of my criticisms about I don't want to say fully Western culture but kind of capitalism although I don't completely disagree with capitalism obviously as its downsides and one thing is I will point enough like when is it good enough? When are you happy? Let's say how much money would you say is enough for you? And for most people it's like never enough and then let's say aside from money, power.

How much influence over people and how much things can you do and then and then when you get to the point It's like the power most powerful people in the world They will just start doing things that are forbidden and more and more and more forbidden more and more bad things and then The whole purpose of me saying this is that the pursuit of power the pursuit of money the pursuit of hedonism So the pursuit of happiness is so flawed because it doesn't matter if you're happy like like just let's say fully happy It doesn't matter if you're rich or powerful. What's gonna give you purpose?

is going to be a lot more important. That's why you see these billionaires are millionaires and they're depressed and they have so many problems with their family because they sacrifice everything. Versus you see these people in Ghana, they have purpose, have community, they don't completely, maybe they do, but they don't always constantly compare themselves to their neighbor who has seven figure income, and they have that much more money than them. They're happy with what they have. And I think it's a very, let's say flawed

mindset right now where we everyone here and like everyone here wants to pursue money pursue power and that's one thing that i like that like gift of talent teaches you is that it isn't all about money it isn't always about power it's about kind of the person you are and the person you surround yourself with continue i did cut you off earlier yeah

Yeah, it's I know I agree. I agree with everything you said. And I feel that's what I that really I experienced a lot of culture shock there because we didn't we went into the depths of Ghana. We went with a person who lived in Ghana. They went they work at our school and they're the head of inclusion and kindness and

Mmm.

they decided to take us to their home and where they've lived. So there's no, there's no like any Western media out there. It's all Ghani's culture. And while some things sure have spread in, it's so fine and finite that you barely notice it. And the culture shock is another level. And it gave me a lot of time to think about it.

Mm-hmm.

And it really impacted who I was as a person because at times, sure, it made me feel angry at myself for how I viewed the world sometimes. But then other times it made me realize that what has happened, I can't change and what I can change is the future.

Mm-hmm.

If I can ask, did you like elaborate more on what did you do specifically in Ghana? Why did you even go there?

So I, it was funny because it was, so we have this thing called immersive, immersive. Two weeks where basically you can sign up for something. And at the start, as a freshman, you don't get many options. Typically you get to do how to become a millionaire and sit in a room for eight hours a day, two weeks. Yeah. But I decided to take a shot to sign up for the Garner trip.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah?

And as a freshman, you never get the trips. It's priority by age. And for some reason, no one signed up for it. And I think it was because there was two other ships, Finland, which was like, we're going to go skiing. We're going to do all these things that have no culture shock. And we're going to go. And then the other place was Nepal, but they were staying in nice hotels and they weren't going.

Haha.

It wasn't going to be brutal. To be honest, was like how they brought back, like they would go into the city and leave.

Then, so basically, they're doing all these things, there's, like, what are they gonna do? Like, I signed up for Ghana. in Ghana, we basically, we went deep into the, so we started out on the outskirts, and we spent some, like, a day there, just,

So you wait, you sign up to Ghana, you go to Ghana, what do do in Ghana?

visiting large sites like regular attractions people would see when going to Ghana.

Mmm. So exploring, understanding the community, that kind of stuff. Mmm.

Yeah. And then then we spent like 14 hours driving into Ghana, like deep into Ghana. And because of like how bad the roads got, it took way longer than expected. And when we got there, we spent a few days at a college talking to college students and learning about how the college founded, the people who founded the college, people who pay for the college, stuff like that. And it was

Mm-hmm.

Amazing. It was a lot better than a few public schools in America. But, it was huge. But the thing I found was that they chose to view it from their world. So for example, it was the best college in the entirety of like everywhere in the world, apparently to them. When of course it isn't, but

They was amazing. So I think the way they view it is without the Western media, which means everything can be better. Right. So, like, no, I don't think many colleges would want to say they're the best college in the world, because then they get all the hassle of everyone saying they're Whereas they will say it and people will accept that because they don't want better.

Mm.

Yeah.

Yeah?

I see.

Anyways, we went off on a tangent here. Let's get back on track. So what's next for you?

What are your goals? Let's say short term, long term. Tell me about the next few steps.

so my next few steps, I'm actually applying to a few programs to do like competitions for work like ECHO. Then what else? Let's think. I'm applying for internships at jobs that recently came to my eye after UCI.

Hahaha

Mm-hmm.

I'm running that program. I'm soon going to be a manager of robotics in operations.

Next steps. I get to college. Like honestly, like have fun. So I find, I know a lot of people don't, but I find the things I'm doing for college fun. Like the stuff I'm doing is not only for my resume and for my college, but I find it enjoyable. I find it really interesting. And to be honest, like

You get to college, you explore. Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. That's good.

There's no student who does it just for the fun. And there's no student who does it just for the resume. Well, there are, but they don't put in effort. They don't get far.

Yeah, I think one of the most important things in life and it's something I want to pursue as well is find something that you want to do and that you will spend so much time on and that you do it for free. Not that you have to do it for free, but you are willing to do it for free. That's I think that is the true, I guess, sense of doing something that you really, really love. And I think, yeah.

Yeah, would you be willing, so the way I view it is, if I'm gonna have a job in the future, of course I am, would I be willing to do it even if I wasn't being paid as much?

Mm-hmm.

Mmm, exactly, yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, like if I was given the option to do architecture for the rest of my life and see it come out to be buildings. Yeah, I'd do it. As long as I was able to feed myself and be alive, I'd love to see people. I'd love to make people's houses and make. I and make ideas and make different like social aspects and social situations using architecture, but.

Yeah, let's get to here.

Mm-hmm.

That's, I think that's a really good way to view it. Would you do it for free? Would you do it for less? So yeah.

Mm-hmm. Yeah, that's a good philosophy to have.

Thank you so much for talking to me. Yeah, I will I Yeah

Of course, was great talking to you. I'll try and see you soon. Thank you.

Thank you so much for joining us today with Aldous Heaf and just walking through his journey, his incredible journey with ADHD, his experience with us at camp, his deep dive into resilience I hope you guys enjoyed this as much as I did because honestly, I love talking to the guy. This is first episode of what will hopefully be many. I'll see you next time.