Stanford is really hard and at times it seems that everybody is out only for himself
or herself, but that is not true. Learning to accept certain parts of people is the most
important skill I have learned at Stanford. I feel that finding a certain group that
understands you is a goal worth striving toward, but it’s not going to happen right
away and will take the effort of years of self-study to truly understand how you
interact with people.
Don’t feel bad if you feel like you’re interactions are shallow and superficial,
they are, but people are just as scared as you so learn to reach past it. My passion at
Stanford has been very hard to discover and even harder to explore. I am an
engineering major, and that means that when your passion is not engineering its
really hard to explore it sometimes. I realized during my sophomore year that
maybe my Grandmother being pushy about getting into the family business was not
the worst thing that I could have experienced. It gave me a burning desire to explore
to ways of thinking and experience as much Native culture outside Alaska as I could.
This passion for understanding my own identity has united me again with the Native
community here.
- Posted on behalf of Aidan Hellen
To echo Aidan's thoughts, I agree!
ReplyDeleteStanford is a tough place and it is very easy to find yourself lost or losing track of where you are, who you came from, and where you want to go.
For those just starting out or about to wrap up(such as myself), one piece of advice I'd give is to always spend some time to reflect and slow things down. Understanding your thoughts and the events around you are key towards your own development. Doing so also allows you to better anchor who you are and your identity as it shapes and develops.
I can guarantee that your time here will be infinitely rewarding if you do so.