“Asking Stanford” is a series of small stories from Stanford students, each of which comes together to highlight the diversity of experiences and perspectives on campus.
Homework
The amount of Coupa matcha that I’ve consumed during the day to sustain my energy levels and power through readings and p-sets at Green. — Helen Katz
The reading I procrastinated for another day. I’ll do it tomorrow…probably. — Jennifer Levine
Time
The number of days I have left where I’m able to spend intentional time with my family is probably in the hundreds. — Dillon Nguyen
The fact that time is finite and there is so much to do. I want to do too much, so I have to pick and choose my experiences, leaving me with lingering “what ifs” and wondering how my life would be different if I had chosen a different road. — Shreya Komar
Late-night text conversations with high school friends. 2,000 miles apart, will our friendship evaporate if I don’t text back soon enough? Four years was a long time to build something substantial, but in the four months since graduation, we’re unraveling fast enough that maybe, just maybe, I’ll wake up and it’ll be gone. — Sharis Hsu
Time running away from me, how much work it takes to care for dear people across distance — and calculus. — Allie Skalnik
Ourselves
The Stanford that could have been. My Stanford experience has been anything but normal. As a frosh, it was all online. Now, I find myself serving an academic suspension. I couldn’t be there for the long-awaited Class of 2024 graduation. At this point, I’ll be lucky to graduate as part of the Class of 2027. — Sebastian Strawser
Spending time with myself, all alone. I rarely get it, and I don’t want to miss out on quality time with me. Watching our favorite TV show, painting our nails red, scribbling away in our journal, practicing Tai Chi together, perusing Pinterest. It’s not depressing – trust me. It’s a special time reserved for sustaining inner peace. — Linden Hansen
I want it to be okay if I’m nothing, even though I desperately want to be something. But I don’t know what “something” means, because I want to be everything. — Kristine Ma