Student

Throughout my first year at Stanford, I was constantly surprised that I could be so busy and yet be so happy, enjoying every second of my freshman year despite all of the surprises that came with it. Walking away from a difficult midterm or a six hour problem set, I was still mesmerized by Stanford’s beautiful campus and the sheer euphoria of living what still felt like a dream.

After graduating high school, it was daunting to learn that assignments would no longer be one to three page responses but 7 to 10 page research papers in college. While struggling to figure out the process of writing these lengthy papers for my PWR classes during freshmen and sophomore year were especially helpful. As an English major with an interest in the arts, I took a freshman PWR class on advertising. While working on my papers Professor Lee offered tips on how to write concise arguments and gave great feedback.

Eyes closed, earphones in, I am alone. Whitney Houston whispers in my ear: ‘if I should stay…’ in this secret world only I alone can access. The light tap on the snare drum unlocks something, I take a deep breath, and belt out like I never would sing again.

‘I will always love you…’

Hey y’all,  

11 courses, 8 themes, but only 1 YOU. Sounds like a lot, huh? I promise you it’s not, under one condition: you must view these 11 courses as 11 opportunities not 11 requirements. Though this program is mandatory, it’s simply allowing you to explore areas that you otherwise might not have and, or it’s giving you the permission to go ahead and take courses in disciplines that you know you have an interest in but is not part of your major.

Time management is not a one-size-fits-all lesson

It’s not easy. It’s not fun. But it is inevitable and tamable. What am I even talking about? Change and transition. First, something in your life occurs that prompts a feeling of unfamiliarity. That’s the change. Then you make a series of choices to attempt to cope and navigate this new territory to the best of your knowledge. That’s the transitional phase. This is the ebb and flow of life. I kind of always knew this in theory, but as we all know, nothing is quite as it seems, especially when it affects you personally.

I went into Admit Weekend thinking that SLE wasn’t for me. I didn’t know how appealing I found literature, had never really studied philosophy in high school, and the idea of having to perform a play every quarter didn’t sound like fun. Thankfully I ended up going to a SLE open house, which completely changed my mind. I was told that participation in the SLE play was totally optional, and that SLE provides you with a great foundation in the humanities that you couldn’t get anywhere else. As a prospective history and political science major, the latter was especially appealing.

This is the story of how an embarrassing moment with my dad during New Student Orientation led me to me find my perfect major. Actually, don’t tell him that; he’ll never let me live it down.

Arriving freshman year, I had everything prepared: car loaded with bags, iStanford app downloaded, Approaching Stanford booklet read. There was only one little problem: I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do at Stanford.

This is the story of how an embarrassing moment with my dad during NSO led me to me find my perfect major and feel fulfilled as a Stanford student. Actually, don’t tell him that; he’ll never let me live it down. This story actually covers a lot more, but I hope you take away the fact that every chance encounter and opportunity you have at Stanford could lead to something great.