Studying at Stanford

Hey loves!

So far, my summer has been awesome! I love being at Stanford and am incredibly grateful for having the opportunity to be here. The campus of the university is amazing and when walking around it, I always have to remind myself that this is real. This place is almost magical - it has libraries which make you feel like you are in a different century, garden areas that make you want to stay in the sun, and buildings that remind you of castles.

I have been in my courses for three weeks by now and wanted to share what it is like to study at Stanford. I am enrolled in "Genocide and Humanitarian Intervention" and "Introduction to International Relations". The courses are part of the Human Rights Intensive which is offered here. The Human Rights Intensive Studies enable students to pick out of a variety of courses related to Human Rights and to attend talks by experts of the field. Personally, I am very interested in the study of and enforcement of Human Rights and was therefore keen to participate in this academic program.

As I mentioned in my last article, one of these main differences between college and high school courses is that there is more work that you are expected to do on your own without anyone checking on it. This puts more responsibility on the students, but also gives them more independence. I love being able to schedule my work all by myself and to decide when I will focus on what. What is really important for college courses is that you stay on top of your work. There really is no one who is constantly checking on you, this is up to you.

But if you are in need of help, you should ask for it. Stanford provides an incredible amount of resources and as a student, you have access to all of them. I have never studied in an environment where I could get so much help. But - as when it comes to work - you are expected to ask for help when you are struggling. And even if you are not struggling, but you simply have questions or want some support, you should ask for it. My teachers, their teaching assistants and tutors offer their time to all their students. They are very helpful and usually have constructive suggestions.

For me, tutoring was particularly helpful. Stanford offers free tutoring for its students and I took advantage of this. The Summer Academic Resource Center is offering the tutor sessions to Stanford students. They offer writing sessions where you can go with any questions concerning writing assignments and subject-specific tutoring sessions. Their tutoring has been particularly helpful for me because I did not know what was expected from me in college essays. They are open to helping high school and college students. The tutors are Stanford students who had been trained to be tutors.

All in all, I can say that I love learning new things at Stanford and I am looking forward to the weeks that are yet to come. Although it is not always easy, it is definitely interesting and worth the work!

Lots of Love,

Elena

All pictures included in this article were taken by Kennedy V.