#stanford2018

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#ARTISYOU #bohoLanterns #stanford2018 so excited to teach this class!!! Xoxo

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If you come across a fork on the road, take it because yay, free fork!

The most memorable quote during the "Value of Liberal Arts Education" lecture at Stanford.

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The first intellectual exercise at Stanford

Stanford, like many almost-as-cool universities in the US, has this awesome three-book program for the incoming freshmen. Over the summer, they sent incoming freshmen three books for free (yes, they paid for the shipping as well), hoping that we would read them and have a meaningful conversation with the authors on campus during NSO. One of the three books this year is “My year of meats” by Ruth Ozeki. Because this book is heavily influenced by "The Pillow Book" by Sei Shonagon, we were given an exercise to re-create some of Sei Shonagon’s lists with items of our own.

Here are two examples of lists that Sei Shonagon put in The Pillow Book: 

Things that create the appearance of deep emotion

Are you feeling deep yet?

Things that should be large

Seriously, of all the parts on a man’s body, it’s “eyes” that you came up with? And what’s the deal with large priests?

That same list, but made by a Stanford student. 

I love how Knowledge comes last, behind two different types of animals, and nowhere close to the size of one's dorm room. Just so you see the intellectual vitality and priority of a typical Tree on campus.

More lists by Stanford students.

Things that cannot be compared

- Grass

Things that give one confidence

- When one strolls through the airport security without being stopped under five minutes. (Oh, hello USA)

Rare things

- Walking in flip-flops without making the flippy floppy sounds.

- Easy opening packaging

- Getting into Stanford

Elegant things

- Straight lines

- Zoning out.

Of course, how could anything else in the world be more elegant than straight lines?

Things that should be short

- Waiting in line

- The height of a step

Embarrassing things

- When the automatic toilets don’t flush and you look like a gross person (Just so you know, automatic toilets at Stanford don’t have a manual override mode)

- Snort while laughing

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You don't hate stress In fact, you are all addicted to stress. That's why you are here.

A speaker from CAPS - Counseling and Psychological Services demystifying the Stanford duck syndromes to the incoming freshmen.

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Your Vice Provost can be cool but he can never be Stanford Vice Provost cool. Harry Elam showed up at Stanford101 speaking like Morgan Freeman and looking like Samuel Jackson dressed in black suit, pink shirt, sunglasses and a single sparkling earring! I was so mesmerized by his sense of fashion that I had to stand up to see what shoes he was wearing. The only problem was that I was on the second front row, you see, so Trisha had to pull me down in the hope of restoring some common courtesy into me.

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Update from first day in school

Bad news: My feet hurt from hours of walking around campus. Who needs gym when you can get lost?  Good news: Found persimmon & orange trees with loads of fruits begging me to pick. Bad news: Lost my phone. Good news: Got the pdf file for one of my textbooks so I can save that money for a new phone. Now if only I can sell one of my kidneys for the rest of the textbooks ...