Spring '24 Wrapped

travel, friends, intellectual curiosity...what could be more jolly?

After 12 quarters at Stanford, the times are starting to blend together. I’m implementing this series to better commemorate and synthesize my quarterly learnings. So—spring quarter junior year in short:

The Mindset: Jolly 😇

A term coined and popularized by resident language creative Naima Patel. In other words, a feeling of natural and contagious joy.

After a grind heavy winter quarter and upon the return of best friends abroad, I felt ready to lean into a fun Stanford Spring, leave room for spontaneity and diving into extracurriculars.

By the Numbers 🔢

7️⃣ days in Paris with the #CyberSuperGirls

1️⃣2️⃣0️⃣ + interviews for #HackingForDefense

4️⃣8️⃣ hours with Stanford Bhangra in Santa Barbara

5️⃣ weeks (so far) serving as Stanford ASSU (All student body) Vice President

🔟 inflatable rainbow chickens at Bay-to-Breakers

1️⃣ major declared (Political Science, finally!!)

and Fred Again…again…again (2️⃣ times to be precise)

The Classes 📝

Contrary to popular parental belief, I did (and do) in fact do schoolwork at Stanford. I took 4 classes worth of fulfilling, intellectually curious content.

POLISCI 131L: Modern Political Thought

Summary: Added to my must take classes at Stanford. Professor Mcqueen is organized, engaging, and truly takes time to get to know her students. It may be registered as a lecture class but feels like a seminar the way she does it.

Skills/Knowledge gained:

• How to re construct and explain complex arguments from other authors (rather than analyzing to get to your own point)

• How to closely read long writing and gather central ideas

• How to bring in quotes and ideas from old philosophers in casual conversation and sound like a true pretentious liberal arts student

Core Takeaways:

1. You can learn so much from engaged classmates. I learned just as much from Professor Mcqueen as I did from the people who sat next to me. Eliza Sandell taught me the Madonna-Mary complex and Charlie Sheiner taught me about the Foucauldian idea that power is diffuse.

2. Castilleja (my high school) really prepared me well for classes like this. Our reading of Germinal in 9th grade fueled my understanding of Marx, and SOAPAs allowed me to actively contribute to class discussions.

3. Doing the reading actually does help. But only if the class structure rewards it. Professor Mcqueen’s emphasis on textual evidence during class, as well as other classmates’ value of it made me more empowered than ever to actually do the readings for a course.

4. I’m a huge Machiavelli and Mill fan but surprisingly share many values with Marx and Engels. They make many good point about the future and purpose of work. I’ve left this class wondering what would Marx say about AI? Next on my reading list is David Graeber’s “Bullshit Jobs” recommended by the class.

MS&E 297: Hacking for Defense

Summary: 10 weeks to explore and help solve a challenge given to you by the Department of Defense. As much work as they say it is to get the most out of it. There are two articles on the way about this class but for now a TLDR.

Core Takeaways:

1. Your team (and more importantly how you run it) always defines your experience.

2. Educated guesses can actually be a form of research (this is essentially what consultants do as I’ve learned this summer).

3. No one will tell you no directly (especially if you are a young student). The real question is: who is saying hell yes?

CISAC Honors Research Seminar

Summary: A head-start with what will be my biggest lift of Senior year: writing a thesis for the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) at Stanford. Although not needed for writing the thesis, my favorite part of this class was getting to know our brilliant cohort a little bit better and hope future iterations of the class continue to emphasize this.

Core Takeaways:

1. Some new research terms:

   1. Operationalization - the process of moving from a concept to a way of measuring that concept.

   2. Normal Accident Theory - the idea that there are certain failures that you cannot design to mitigate. This is especially relevant as I think of incorporating #SecureByDesign concepts into my thesis.

2. The question I hope to start to explore in my thesis is: “Under what conditions do American AI companies prioritize security vs innovation in business decision-making?” Regulators will tell you not without being forced to, business leaders seem to indicate otherwise.

Directed Reading with Colin Kahl

Summary: Anytime with Professor Kahl, former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy in the Biden administration, is time enjoyed. I was particularly grateful for times of debates and story times with this engaged mini-class of sorts. For future directed readings I may opt to have a more strict culture of debate and discussion with more frequent writing assignments.

Core Takeaways:

1. Key Terms

   1. Axis of Upheaval - Quasi alliance of authoritarian countries trying to overturn the US rules based national order (Russia, China, North Korea)

   2. Deterrence vs Compellence - convincing an adversary to DO something or to stop doing something they are already doing

2. Top phrases

   1. “Small yard, high fence” - Jake Sullivan on American economic leadership

   2. “Rising tide that will lift all boats” - JFK on the American economy

   3. “Don’t compare me to the almighty, compare me to the alternative” - Joe Biden (although this hasn’t aged well given tonight’s debate performance)

   4. “Made through America” - The idea, specifically regarding chips, that even if items aren’t made in America, they are dependent on a supply chain that is founded in America.

In summary, and up next ⏭☀️

All in all, this may have been my favorite quarter at Stanford yet. Taking fewer classes, focusing energy and making time for friends seems to be a full proof equation. But, for better or force worse, the rollercoaster of grind doesn’t stop. A more life focused spring quarter inevitably means a more work focused summer.

What is this public service cyber super girl doing at McKinsey in New York? Only time will tell. I’m looking forward to leaning into my creative side, continuing to write, and being in “sponge” mode.

I’ll leave you, dear reader, with an ending thought from my modern political thought class: “I hope you read me with an open mind, and take from this the things that are useful to you in your own time.” With love, to my future self and the pour souls I forced to subscribe to this newsletter.

—DG