(WARNING: Do not be alarmed! Your computer has NOT malfunctioned! The following is written in [mostly] syntactically sound Java code.) Meredith.enterComputerLab(); String feeling = nervous; int knowledgeOfComputerScience = 0; int excitement = Integer.MAX_VALUE; for (int i = 0; i < numDaysOfSchool; i = i + 1) { Meredith.decreaseNervousness(); Meredith.increaseUnderstanding(); } System.out.println(“For each day of freshman year that I spent mastering the syntax of common programming and struggling with the seemingly trivial exercises, my intrigue for the intricate art of Computer Science increased exponentially. I...

While listlessly reading my AP Environmental Science homework, my eyes lit up when I came across, “Paul and Anne Ehrlich of Stanford University.” I read about Paul Ehrlich’s “population bomb” theory and thought of all the members of Stanford’s diverse community of intellectuals. Vint Cerf – “father of the Internet,” Larry Page, co-founder of Google who I heard speak at the Intel ISEF just months previously, and Sally Ride, an idol of mine ever since my summers at Space...

If you’ve never seen the show Supernatural, there are these two brothers, Sam and Dean, who go around solving paranormal mysteries. They’re focused. Adventurous. Curious about what’s going on, and determined to find out. I’m like that. When my friend Michelle and I saw the bridge connecting our dorm building to the mysterious structure across the road with no apparent way to get on, I knew right then how we were going to spend our Sunday...

In my favorite class of high school, AP Computer Science, I was the only female. In my AP Physics C class senior year, I was the only female. In fact, there were only three females in all the AP Physics classes, B and C included. Both classes were so rewarding not only in the content covered, but in the experience gained, yet no females were reaping the benefits available to them. I convinced one of my close female friends to...

Ryan Schiedermayer is the single best drummer I know, because of both his unmatched talent and his steadfast personality. Granted, I don’t personally know any other professional drummers, but the fact that Ryan can flawlessly keep the rhythm of any beat for a seemingly indefinite amount of time and that he is the most considerate and compassionate guy I know is evidence enough of his superiority, in my experience and opinion. I’ve been working with Ryan for almost...

While most probably wouldn't recognize the man in the attached photograph, they have undoubtedly been impacted by his existence. Pictured is Alan Mathison Turing, recognized by most as the "father of computer science." But his interest extended far beyond what is now known as computer science. He was a renowned mathematician, cryptanalyst, logician, and inventor. If it weren't for Turing, modern technology would likely look much different than it does today, as the computer as we know and love was...

Stanford students are widely known to possess a sense of intellectual vitality. Tell us about an idea or an experience you have had that you find intellectually engaging. Ever since I wrote my first “Hello World” program in Computer Science and progressively moved into more complicated structures like if statements, loops, and recursion, my mind has been programmed to think in the language of a computer, to figure out how the world works by simplifying daily occurrences into snippets of...