By Adhishree Viti
A binary tree is a data structure in which each node has at most two children. The parent node is known as the “root.” These child nodes can branch out with at most two children of their own, and the tree goes on. There can be nodes that have only one child, either the left child or the right child, and there are leaf nodes which have no children at all.
As a computer science student, I recently learned about binary trees in a data structures and algorithms course. After both flourishing in and struggling with navigating the world of LeetCode, solving binary tree-focused problems, I realized that this structure perfectly represents what I have always believed in. I believe that life is all already written while multiple versions of our predetermined life exist. This is where we get to have a choice. The events might be decided, but our reactions to these events are not.
Each node in a binary tree represents an event in our life, with the root node being our birth and the leaf node, all the way at the bottom, being our death. At the moment it branches out into its two children nodes, we get to make the decision of which action to pursue. The result of both actions is already written, but we get to pick which story we would like to be the main character of. Just as some binary tree nodes have only one child, there are times in life when we realistically do not get to pursue a different option. But that does not mean the binary tree ends there. Eventually, we reach a node that has two children, and there we again choose what we would like to do.
I have experienced many tiny examples in my day-to-day student life that were like this binary tree. Once, I was leaving the Shaffer Art Building when it suddenly started to rain intensely. I had just finished a class and had another one to go to. Here, the two actions branching out of the node from the sudden event of rain were either to hope for the rain to slow down or just quickly run through it and get soaked—I chose to wait for it to slow down. Coincidentally, that day, there was a science research fair being hosted in the building. Since I was waiting, I decided to walk around and ended up at a very intriguing poster which displayed research on AI-generated misinformation in the media. I got to know a lot about the program, the professor, and the work that the current research assistants did. After emailing the professor to discuss the topics further, I eventually became his research assistant. It’s been about six months since I started working with him. This December, I will be presenting my poster under his research at the exact same building!
I did end up being late and missing a good part of the lecture on that rainy day. Had I chosen to just run for it, I wouldn’t have been late for class, but I also would have never gotten to know about this opportunity that I currently have. The point is, the nodes in our lives have different outcomes and each outcome comes with its own pros and cons. But believing in the structure of life as a binary tree pushes me to do my best, to explore, and to just have faith that it will all work out!
Adhishree Viti (she/her) ‘27 is a computer science major. She enjoys reading books, going to the gym, journaling, and photography. She doesn’t often share her writing publicly but is slowly getting into the habit of moving her thoughts, once only seen on the pages of her diary, to the digital space, inviting others to share their perspectives.
