The Senior Reflection: Final Essays

At the end of each year, TSR students write an essay in which they reflect on their projects, trajectories through Stanford, and plans for the future. Here are the reflections of students who agreed to allow their essays to be made public:

2013:

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Brian Chhor
Scents of Drying Tears
"When we see, we remain what we are; but when we smell, we are overtaken by otherness." Our olfactory bulbs are intricately linked with the parts of our brains that control memory formation and… Read more
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Natalie Durant
Flowing Through Tradition
“Life is a race between education and catastrophe.” Why? My father has asked me a couple of times the big question, “why?” His question is not very specific but I assume he is asking why I am spending… Read more
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Patrick Freeman
A New Voice for Elephants
The sky was a characteristic pink-blue, the sun hanging low, accelerating toward the horizon. It was the last day of my first field season in Namibia and all I wanted to do was muster some kind of… Read more
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Arie Kim
Play with Us
I was maybe nine. I twisted my neck and pushed my head between the cold bars, then same with the right shoulder and the waist. I slipped right through the tall, steel school fence. Thick wisteria hung… Read more
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Lily Kim
Mirror Mirror in my Mind
Relapse: It was one August day in my senior of high school. The sharp voice of an employee at the organic clothes shop cut through my concentration as I was preparing for a fashion show…. Read more
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Brittany Margot
A Mother’s Choice
My journey through The Senior Reflection was not a dangerous trek nor a walk in the park. It was lengthy and it was routine, in the best possible way. I never wanted class to end, and I looked forward… Read more
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Nitya Rajeshuni
Hungama–“The Fun Life
The Gargantuan Beginning: When we first began, I didn’t know what to do. I had heard about TSR multiple times from Sue; however, when I was actually faced with having to pick a real topic—I had a… Read more
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Alex Scully
Yes and…
Dear Reader, Thank you for taking the time to read my final reflection piece for The Senior Reflection (TSR) capstone course. I’ve organized my reflection into sections titled: Four years ago, which… Read more
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Maya Talbott
Lost in Memory
The Beginning: When I was a little girl, I dreaded bedtime. Not because I wanted to stay up later playing games and exploring—my parents gave up on enforcing a scheduled bedtime when I was very… Read more