This quarter was a radical departure from the previous two. It was profoundly different and, at times, extremely difficult. Having now come up for air on the other side, and looking at the great joys that I did experience, I feel pretty positively about the whole affair. And the change never stops, as I leave behind the great change of this year for a whole new world: summer.
Academics
I was in the lowest amount of units possible, a measly 12. These were:
- COLLEGE 110: The Spirit of Democracy
- CS 107: Computer Organization and Systems
- CS 12SI: Spatial Computing Workshop
- SUSTAIN 132: Sustainable Societies Lab: Exploring Israel’s Innovation Ecosystem in Human & Planetary Health
This significantly reduced courseload was a mistake. I felt unmoored with so little work, attending to my classes by catching assignments just before they fell off my metaphorical plate. I don’t believe this was the most effective means of learning or academic growth. I ended up in this situation because I was afraid to adapt my schedule to change, and I could have avoided it by embracing risk and authoritative decision-making. “Strong opinions, loosely held” feels like a phrase that could be adapted here. I had structured my schedule around a specific class (DESIGN 11) but ended up dropping the class in exasperation after two weeks. I should have found a supplement (likely DESIGN 1 or ARABLANG 21A), and reorganized my schedule to accommodate it. The past being immutable, I will simply acknowledge that I believe this would have been a better choice for me academically and, in certain respects, emotionally as well.
Nevertheless, certain aspects of my academic experience during these ten weeks deserve recognition. CS 107 introduced me to genuinely new aspects of computer science—it forced me to engage with topics that I have intentionally avoided in my own work, grapple with them, and come out fully understanding them. These subjects include working in memory-unsafe languages such as C, reading and interpreting x86_64 assembly, certain UNIX system details, and other topics in this orbit. I received a relatively poor grade in this class! This was largely due to my handling of the homework, and one assignment in particular which was significantly late. It was still one of the most fulfilling learning experiences of my engineering career.
The highlight of COLLEGE 110 was the opportunity it afforded me to experience Larry Diamond in his element. We exist at a time of great consequence, and his framing of the world, with its challenges and opportunities, was enlightening. I feel very fortunate to have been able to get to know the man. The events I attended with him that paralleled the class were also remarkable. I met Salam Fayyad, and gained a new two-truths-and-a-lie fact from our personal interactions. I also enjoyed the Boiling Moat panel on Taiwanese security, which I attended with my friend Jacob while he was visiting. One panelist absolutely terrified me, and I would like to work for him. The ebook is living on my Kindle, and waits high up on my reading list.
CS 12SI and SUSTAIN 132 both represent the unparalleled latitude that Stanford presents its community. A class exclusively diving into the just-released Vision Pro, with real expert access and attention to each student project, is an unbelievable offering. Like CS 40, CS 12SI was new a little bumpy, but I can see it growing into something extremely impressive and startup-accelerator-y, especially under Gabriel’s excellent guidance. SUSTAIN 132 lives in such a cool niche of academic study I am grateful that it exists at all—and it helped that the teaching staff was cool on top of it all.
Personal
Social engagement was without a doubt where my focus lay this past quarter. My sleep schedule lurched around the clock, Oura be damned. And pouring all of my energy into a complex web of human relationships occasionally reminded me of the gossip trap theory of prehistory, which was less than pleasant.
I should spare a moment to appreciate and bid a very depressing goodbye to the seniors who made this year special for me, and will not be there when I return. Losing you all really took me by surprise, and I will not be the same without you. Emily, you’ve been there for me like no one else and I cannot acknowledge that enough. I’m rooting for (and counting on, honestly) your return. Ben, you changed the trajectory of my career. I was honored to receive some of your reflections in my inbox, and do hope to see that continue, if only for my own enrichment. Joven, we met for the first time in earnest over spring break, but by the time we were the last two people in London, enjoying blueberry muffins and sipping on lattes on our way to the airport, we had hit our stride. No one else will debate the finer points of café society with me, and that is a deficiency on their part. And of course, Sophia—I was perpetually amazed at our relationship. You’re the best, and I have faith that there is little that can stop you from continuing to be just that.
In a somewhat surprising turn of events, this quarter I joined the fraternity Phi Kappa Psi. This unique aspect of American university life played no role in my parents’ experience, and thus I was raised without a great desire to participate in it when I went off to Stanford. Nevertheless, as I met more and more Phi Psis, I was startled to realize that I really enjoyed hanging out with them. I no longer find this nearly as startling, having been to the ends of the Earth and back with them (or at least, military bases, casinos, and watery watchtowers). To the brothers that convinced me to join—Odin, Reisner, Lichu, Deveen, Deitrich, Gareth, Farman, Santi, Milo—I owe you a great thanks, and perhaps an apology as well for being so stubborn. I’ve wanted to be a rapper for as long as I can remember, and you brought that out of me. I’m extremely grateful. And to the fresh set of brothers—Bradley, Panos, Arjin, Tiao—that I am a part of, you make me excited for the future.
I have not forgotten about the London gang, nor my promise to write about the trip in this reflection. For those readers planning an outing to the kingdom on which the sun never sets, I have only three important notes—the white saffron hot chocolate at Dark Sugars will change your life, the chai at Dishoom is bottomless, and if you’re ever having too much fun at an interactive performance of Guys and Dolls the dude to your left will berate you. My deep thanks to the Danielpours for playing host to us all, and welcoming us into your home for a lovely shabbat. Everyone on this trip changed my life this year, and I love you all so very much. In London and at Stanford, to have such friends is life’s greatest joy. Many of you have made your way into this post already, but I will descend into lists again for those that have not. Stella, you built a home on campus in the Warehaus that did not have to exist, but was for me a heaven of frosted flakes and late night antics. Zach, I’m coming for your PRs and your creatine water bottle. You undoubtedly fill out the commemorative London shirt the best of all of us. Daniel, you inspire me consistently by moving to action when I’m standing still, afraid. Name a more iconic duo than us. And Kelly—you are so wonderful.
But these are not the only people at Stanford who are important to me. Vivek, I cannot wait to live with you next year. Nate, you are simply way better at tennis than I am. Trun, we are living the lives we have always wanted. Jack, if there is anyone in my life who possesses the magnetic people powers of Gatsby (which I say as someone who, at present, admires the man with no qualms) it is you. Sam—to meet your family was a great honor and I’m sorry they saw me give you a piggyback ride right before. Vedant and Riya: just because we’re no longer all in the great dorm of Crothers doesn’t mean tea at 3 in the morning has to stop, and indeed I hope it doesn’t. Ryan, you’ve once again ended up a key player in a crazy highlight-of-the-quarter evening and I can only hope that this continues. Longhair, it didn’t work out this quarter, but come fall you bet we will hit the Pyramid of Giza. And Naama: you are the only person with whom I have a weekly scheduled meal.
I miss you all.
It occurs to me that turning the personal section of a reflection into basically a list of thank-yous is perhaps not particularly reflective. It’s somewhat hard to keep a journal in public. Perhaps this is just the nature of things. Perhaps I have just once again waited too long to finish writing and publish this post. Perhaps I shouldn’t be married to the format I’ve used in previous posts. We shall see.
A Year Complete
I remain the person that I was when I began Stanford, but I happily believe that have become an improved and refined version of that person.
I have aquired two new greenfield skills, in Arabic and assembly language. I had no knowledge of the two before this year, and now I do. These allow me to tangibly do things I could not do before.
The majority of my development, however, has been less tangible—but all the more profound. Being at Stanford has placed me at the center of the most incredible environment I could imagine; remarkable people surround me at all hours of the day, and their effusive brilliance cannot help but be impactful.
As the summer continues, and the community that comprises this small Eden is dispersed, I have a hard time imagining that this year happened at all. My time at Stanford was a short, recent burst. I’m now back in San Francisco, and though I’ve maintained as large a sprinkling of Stanford in my life as I can, it feels almost as if I have just awoken from the most vivid, marvelous dream.
This summer will be exciting and hopefully rejuvenating as well. It will also comprise its own Q4 reflection! But I’m not embarrassed to say that I’m looking forward to returning to the Farm in the fall. I enjoyed dreaming, and I have a feeling that it’s not over yet.