One of my biggest blessings academically was the opportunity to perform stem cell research alongside postdoctoral scholars in Stanford’s School of Medicine last summer. Stem cell research carries the greatest potential for combating many of mankind’s greatest threats, from cancers to heart attacks. After my mother was diagnosed with late-stage metastatic lung cancer, I knew that I had to immediately begin building the infrastructure I needed in biomedical sciences if I had any hopes of benefiting her welfare...

I was worried when I performed my first floor demonstration about rovers as a new volunteer at the Chabot Space and Science Center during “Curiosity Rover Celebration.” Scanning the floor for the hundredth time, my eyes caught a boy, who was about seven years old, holding a bionic bunny and peering from behind the sundial. Nervously, I began the script that I had been trained to deliver. However, in mid-sentence about Curiosity, the boy, who had surreptitiously approached, quietly asked...

Its a simple but interesting anecdote that gives colleges a glimpse of what life looks like for you outside of academics.