On being at Stanford

I find Stanford to be a very mysterious place - its a place of contradictions. There is no big signage that says welcome to Stanford University. Yet, if one walks into the main quadrangle, it is hard to mistake it as any other university. You immediately know that its Stanford - something about the architecture, layout of the buildings, the presence of the church gives it a whisper of faith inside one that this is Stanford.

Stanford has a very interesting history - the university's official name is the Leland Stanford Jr. University. Leland Stanford Sr was a robber baron, who oversaw the construction of the Trans-Continental Railroad, served as the Governor of California, and later as a Senator. He and his wife, Jane Stanford, had a son Leland Stanford Jr. The family's original goal was to build a mansion on the grounds of where Stanford currently is, but, tragedy struck them when Leland Jr caught typhoid on a trip to Greece. He passed away and the story goes that Leland Sr turned to Jane, and said, "the children of California will be our children."

Thus marked the birth of Stanford University; named after a child who never reached his 18th birthday, and consecrated by a grief-stricken family.

In a sense, being on campus feels like stepping out of time - or time has no relevance here. Even though Palo Alto is literally one street away, it is hard to imagine that I am in a city. I have yet to be bored of seeing the main quadrangle every day as I bike to my lab. The trees don't change color, leaves don't fall, the grass stays green, no matter the side! It's quite discerning, sometimes feel like I'm Alice in Wonderland. In all honesty, the climate, surroundings, the campus, makes me feel like if I was 13 again, and imagining a perfect hang-out with my friends on a perfectly curated playground on a perfectly sunny day. No matter how improbable it seems, I feel like Leland Jr's spirit lives on in everyone who comes here to study, work, play or do research.

But at the same time, you can't help but feel that a sense of sadness permeates through the air, whether it be reality snaking its way through the maze-like streets of Stanford, or suddenly when the shadows of the trees start to grow longer than their heights in the afternoon. Sometime during the day, I realise that I have HW to do, have to go work in the lab, or get something to eat- I can't spend all day staring out the window or sitting down on the benches outside. Somewhere, my 20-year old self has to get up and drag my 13 year-old mind back to the present moment. There's always a hint of sadness when the golden rays of the sun no longer warm my back, and the air starts to get chilly.

This place is a contradiction - Stanford really encapsulates the feel of the questioning individual - the child-like fascination of the world meets the weary traveler's battered suitcase. Ultimately, I think that this fundamental contradiction, just like the original Rebel without a Cause, drives its identity as a forefront leader in research in education. People aren't afraid to take risks, professors aren't afraid to flesh out bold ideas, students aren't afraid to go out of their comfort zones, but at the same time, you do have to wonder, how many people are left behind in the metaphorical empty courtyards, and what happens to them, as Stanford forges ahead its ideals of education - Die Luft der Freiheit weht - the wind of freedom blows, but where does it take us?

We will have to find out by being here, at Stanford.