Day 8
Today is the first day of our second week here at
Stanford. A new week of classes to
experience. The new week began like any
other, albeit with a slight amount of sadness in our hearts that this would be
the last week of our time in Stanford.
Our first class of the day was Anthropology – which was a
mental adventure through and through.
For many of us, it was the first time for the word “Anthropology” to
even reach our ears, and the study of humans entailed far more than any of us
expected.
To begin the class, we were made to read a text labeled,
‘The Body Rituals of the Nacirema’, a first-year text for university students
in most places. It gave us an insight into the strange rituals that the
Nacirema – a native tribe in North America – did to uphold their own values and
traditions. It was eye-opening and very, very shocking to read. But the lesson
truly hit home when our teacher told us to spell ‘Nacirema’ backwards –
‘American’. The entire text had been a description of modern American life,
simply described from a different perspective. It was this, our teacher said,
that was the true meaning of Anthropology – to learn to look at humans and
every aspect of their life from a different perspective.
After that revelation, our attention was captured and the
class passed in the blink of an eye. Before we knew it lunch was upon us – a
rush hour of epic proportions – and the second class was about to begin.
The final class of the day was a blast. There were plenty of
activities outdoors to build teamwork and creativity skills. “Designing
Mindsets” brought to our attention the many intricacies of imagination and
creative thinking. The class included a visit to the d.school, a.k.a , the
school of design. That, was truly a place one would dream of working in. The
d.school is a safe haven for people from every department to gather and create
beyond their wildest dreams.
The first day of our second week at Stanford was a
mind-opening day, to say the least.
-Jocelin Kee, Cydney Skinner, Joyce Woo, Cherry Suen
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