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1 | 1 | --- |
2 | | -title: Stanford Knight-Hennessy Scholars essay (denied) |
| 2 | +title: Stanford Knight-Hennessy Scholars essay (denied) |
3 | 3 | tags: |
4 | 4 | - writing |
5 | 5 | layout: post |
6 | | -description: My "connect the dots" essay for Stanford's KHS program (denied). |
| 6 | +description: |
| 7 | + My "connect the dots" essay for Stanford's KHS program |
| 8 | + (denied). |
7 | 9 | --- |
8 | 10 |
|
9 | | -**Connect the dots. How have the influences in your life shaped you?** |
10 | | - |
11 | | -Composer Gustav Mahler lived a difficult life troubled by tragedy, an unrooted identity as a |
12 | | -19th-century European Jew, and unceasing struggles with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia; it |
13 | | -was as if the “voices of two different people” lived inside the one Mahler. In his penultimate work |
14 | | -“Das Lied von Der Erde” (“The Song of the Earth”), we hear these dueling voices guide us from a |
15 | | -joyous drinking song through a melancholy meditation on solitude as we end in the lengthy epic |
16 | | -“Der Abschied” (“The Farewell”). Here Mahler places us in a mystical trance as the orchestra |
17 | | -carries a peaceful C6/9 chord into silence. In these final moments, we experience calm as if |
18 | | -mirroring the same inner peace Mahler found in musical expression. |
19 | | -That C6/9 chord was the last one I played as an orchestral violist on a professional stage. After a |
20 | | -tumultuous high school journey defined by my own struggles with identity and academic failure, I |
21 | | -found our performance of Mahler to be a fitting bookend to that chapter of my life. My decade of |
22 | | -musical training gave me a reverence for artistic expression. Axiomatically, art is human-centered |
23 | | -design in its purest form. |
| 11 | +**Connect the dots. How have the influences in your life |
| 12 | +shaped you?** |
| 13 | + |
| 14 | +Composer Gustav Mahler lived a difficult life troubled by |
| 15 | +tragedy, an unrooted identity as a 19th-century European |
| 16 | +Jew, and unceasing struggles with bipolar disorder and |
| 17 | +schizophrenia; it was as if the “voices of two different |
| 18 | +people” lived inside the one Mahler. In his penultimate work |
| 19 | +“Das Lied von Der Erde” (“The Song of the Earth”), we hear |
| 20 | +these dueling voices guide us from a joyous drinking song |
| 21 | +through a melancholy meditation on solitude as we end in the |
| 22 | +lengthy epic “Der Abschied” (“The Farewell”). Here Mahler |
| 23 | +places us in a mystical trance as the orchestra carries a |
| 24 | +peaceful C6/9 chord into silence. In these final moments, we |
| 25 | +experience calm as if mirroring the same inner peace Mahler |
| 26 | +found in musical expression. That C6/9 chord was the last |
| 27 | +one I played as an orchestral violist on a professional |
| 28 | +stage. After a tumultuous high school journey defined by my |
| 29 | +own struggles with identity and academic failure, I found |
| 30 | +our performance of Mahler to be a fitting bookend to that |
| 31 | +chapter of my life. My decade of musical training gave me a |
| 32 | +reverence for artistic expression. Axiomatically, art is |
| 33 | +human-centered design in its purest form. |
24 | 34 |
|
25 | 35 | \~\~\~ |
26 | 36 |
|
27 | | -A SpaceX rocket requires parts from thousands of suppliers. Stuart is one of the purchasing |
28 | | -analysts who tackle this logistical challenge. Typically, he’d have to spend all day copy-pasting |
29 | | -dozens of documents into our company’s database. When I demonstrated my intern project to the |
30 | | -team, Stuart’s eyes lit up with joy as he saw an email automatically processed and recorded. We |
31 | | -freed Stuart from 30 hours/week of clerical work allowing him to put his analytical mind to work. |
32 | | -SpaceX was my first peek into how human-centered design can empower others to do more. |
33 | | -I’ve experienced time and again that caring about other folks’ needs and concerns is the key to |
34 | | -being truly useful to other people. This empathetic approach is why I ground every technical |
35 | | -discussion in the user experience. It’s seeing the delight in another’s eyes that brings energy to my |
36 | | -life. Human-centered design is the strongest way to help others. |
| 37 | +A SpaceX rocket requires parts from thousands of suppliers. |
| 38 | +Stuart is one of the purchasing analysts who tackle this |
| 39 | +logistical challenge. Typically, he’d have to spend all day |
| 40 | +copy-pasting dozens of documents into our company’s |
| 41 | +database. When I demonstrated my intern project to the team, |
| 42 | +Stuart’s eyes lit up with joy as he saw an email |
| 43 | +automatically processed and recorded. We freed Stuart from |
| 44 | +30 hours/week of clerical work allowing him to put his |
| 45 | +analytical mind to work. SpaceX was my first peek into how |
| 46 | +human-centered design can empower others to do more. I’ve |
| 47 | +experienced time and again that caring about other folks’ |
| 48 | +needs and concerns is the key to being truly useful to other |
| 49 | +people. This empathetic approach is why I ground every |
| 50 | +technical discussion in the user experience. It’s seeing the |
| 51 | +delight in another’s eyes that brings energy to my life. |
| 52 | +Human-centered design is the strongest way to help others. |
37 | 53 |
|
38 | 54 | \~\~\~ |
39 | 55 |
|
40 | | -When my sister turned around to face me, I saw Kamala Harris’ eyes staring back at me instead. |
41 | | -We were watching the news together as Senator Harris gave her acceptance speech for the Vice |
42 | | -Presidential nomination. My sister, 10 years my junior, shares similar facial features as the Senator. |
43 | | -I was surprised that I had confused the person I had grown up with for a politician on TV. I let that |
44 | | -disconnance sit in me for a moment. I had been running away from my identity as an |
45 | | -Indian-American my whole life. Now, it felt like the last puzzle piece of my identity was beginning |
46 | | -to fall into place. When I saw my sister and myself in Kamala Harris, I finally understood what many Black Americans saw in Barack Obama. I finally realized what “diversity” is all about: empowering |
47 | | -everyone to feel like they belong in their community. To my sister I have an obligation to take my |
48 | | -skills in human-centered design one step further by building and reforming the institutions that |
| 56 | +When my sister turned around to face me, I saw Kamala |
| 57 | +Harris’ eyes staring back at me instead. We were watching |
| 58 | +the news together as Senator Harris gave her acceptance |
| 59 | +speech for the Vice Presidential nomination. My sister, 10 |
| 60 | +years my junior, shares similar facial features as the |
| 61 | +Senator. I was surprised that I had confused the person I |
| 62 | +had grown up with for a politician on TV. I let that |
| 63 | +disconnance sit in me for a moment. I had been running away |
| 64 | +from my identity as an Indian-American my whole life. Now, |
| 65 | +it felt like the last puzzle piece of my identity was |
| 66 | +beginning to fall into place. When I saw my sister and |
| 67 | +myself in Kamala Harris, I finally understood what many |
| 68 | +Black Americans saw in Barack Obama. I finally realized what |
| 69 | +“diversity” is all about: empowering everyone to feel like |
| 70 | +they belong in their community. To my sister I have an |
| 71 | +obligation to take my skills in human-centered design one |
| 72 | +step further by building and reforming the institutions that |
49 | 73 | govern our life. |
50 | 74 |
|
51 | | -~~~ |
| 75 | +``` |
52 | 76 |
|
53 | 77 | I listened to Mahler the night after Harris’ acceptance speech. After another difficult journey |
54 | 78 | through college, I felt the resolution in my heart that I had first felt five years ago on stage. I wrote |
55 | 79 | to my closest friend: “This evening is the first time I felt like I really belong in this country. I didn’t |
56 | 80 | realize how important it is to see yourself in your leaders.” |
| 81 | +``` |
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