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76 changes: 48 additions & 28 deletions _posts/2020-10-14-stanford-khs-connect-dots.md
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---
title: Stanford Knight-Hennessy Scholars essay (denied)
title: Stanford Knight-Hennessy Scholars essay (denied)
tags:
- writing
layout: post
description: My "connect the dots" essay for Stanford's KHS program (denied).
description:
My "connect the dots" essay for Stanford's KHS program
(denied).
---

**Connect the dots. How have the influences in your life shaped you?**
**Connect the dots. How have the influences in your life
shaped you?**

Composer Gustav Mahler lived a difficult life troubled by tragedy, an unrooted identity as a
19th-century European Jew, and unceasing struggles with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia; it
was as if the “voices of two different people” lived inside the one Mahler. In his penultimate work
“Das Lied von Der Erde” (“The Song of the Earth”), we hear these dueling voices guide us from a
joyous drinking song through a melancholy meditation on solitude as we end in the lengthy epic
“Der Abschied” (“The Farewell”). Here Mahler places us in a mystical trance as the orchestra
carries a peaceful C6/9 chord into silence. In these final moments, we experience calm as if
mirroring the same inner peace Mahler found in musical expression.
That C6/9 chord was the last one I played as an orchestral violist on a professional stage. After a
tumultuous high school journey defined by my own struggles with identity and academic failure, I
found our performance of Mahler to be a fitting bookend to that chapter of my life. My decade of
musical training gave me a reverence for artistic expression. Axiomatically, art is human-centered
design in its purest form.
~~~
Composer Gustav Mahler lived a difficult life troubled by
tragedy, an unrooted identity as a 19th-century European
Jew, and unceasing struggles with bipolar disorder and
schizophrenia; it was as if the “voices of two different
people” lived inside the one Mahler. In his penultimate work
“Das Lied von Der Erde” (“The Song of the Earth”), we hear
these dueling voices guide us from a joyous drinking song
through a melancholy meditation on solitude as we end in the
lengthy epic “Der Abschied” (“The Farewell”). Here Mahler
places us in a mystical trance as the orchestra carries a
peaceful C6/9 chord into silence. In these final moments, we
experience calm as if mirroring the same inner peace Mahler
found in musical expression. That C6/9 chord was the last
one I played as an orchestral violist on a professional
stage. After a tumultuous high school journey defined by my
own struggles with identity and academic failure, I found
our performance of Mahler to be a fitting bookend to that
chapter of my life. My decade of musical training gave me a
reverence for artistic expression. Axiomatically, art is
human-centered design in its purest form.

```
A SpaceX rocket requires parts from thousands of suppliers. Stuart is one of the purchasing
analysts who tackle this logistical challenge. Typically, he’d have to spend all day copy-pasting
dozens of documents into our company’s database. When I demonstrated my intern project to the
Expand All @@ -33,22 +44,31 @@ being truly useful to other people. This empathetic approach is why I ground eve
discussion in the user experience. It’s seeing the delight in another’s eyes that brings energy to my
life. Human-centered design is the strongest way to help others.

~~~
```

When my sister turned around to face me, I saw Kamala Harris’ eyes staring back at me instead.
We were watching the news together as Senator Harris gave her acceptance speech for the Vice
Presidential nomination. My sister, 10 years my junior, shares similar facial features as the Senator.
I was surprised that I had confused the person I had grown up with for a politician on TV. I let that
disconnance sit in me for a moment. I had been running away from my identity as an
Indian-American my whole life. Now, it felt like the last puzzle piece of my identity was beginning
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
everyone to feel like they belong in their community. To my sister I have an obligation to take my
skills in human-centered design one step further by building and reforming the institutions that
When my sister turned around to face me, I saw Kamala
Harris’ eyes staring back at me instead. We were watching
the news together as Senator Harris gave her acceptance
speech for the Vice Presidential nomination. My sister, 10
years my junior, shares similar facial features as the
Senator. I was surprised that I had confused the person I
had grown up with for a politician on TV. I let that
disconnance sit in me for a moment. I had been running away
from my identity as an Indian-American my whole life. Now,
it felt like the last puzzle piece of my identity was
beginning 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 everyone to feel like
they belong in their community. To my sister I have an
obligation to take my skills in human-centered design one
step further by building and reforming the institutions that
govern our life.

~~~
```

I listened to Mahler the night after Harris’ acceptance speech. After another difficult journey
through college, I felt the resolution in my heart that I had first felt five years ago on stage. I wrote
to my closest friend: “This evening is the first time I felt like I really belong in this country. I didn’t
realize how important it is to see yourself in your leaders.”
```
1 change: 1 addition & 0 deletions sitemap.md
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Expand Up @@ -94,6 +94,7 @@ title: "Sitemap"
- [`/posts/2020/06/time-analysis/` → Work analysis for Spring 2020](/posts/2020/06/time-analysis/)
- [`/posts/2020/06/cactus/` → Cactus](/posts/2020/06/cactus/)
- [`/posts/2020/06/tracks/` → Tracks](/posts/2020/06/tracks/)
- [`/posts/2020/10/stanford-khs-connect-dots/` → Stanford Knight-Hennessy Scholars essay (denied) ](/posts/2020/10/stanford-khs-connect-dots/)
- [`/posts/2020/11/dsl-for-sql/` → <p>](/posts/2020/11/dsl-for-sql/)
- [`/posts/2020/12/stanford-cs-phd-statement/` → "Stanford CS PhD Statement of Purpose (denied)"](/posts/2020/12/stanford-cs-phd-statement/)
- [`/posts/2021/01/alyssa/` → Alyssa](/posts/2021/01/alyssa/)
Expand Down
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