The start of Junior year at Stanford has been exhilarating, and exhausting; I haven’t had the time to sit down and write a quality post in a few weeks. It’s been a month since I arrived on campus, my undergraduate career more than halfway done, but I know that there’s still so much more for me to see and do.
This year, I’ve risen into many leadership roles on campus: President of the Stanford Symphony Orchestra, Head of Marketing for the Stanford Economics Association, Senior Associate in the Stanford Pre-Business Association, Creative Catalyst in Lantana, ECON50 TA in the Economics Department… the list has grown, perhaps a little too much. Still, I’m loving the stuff I get to do this year, with the Stanford Symphony Orchestra preparing for a huge tour to Mexico and Cuba in 2017, the Econ Association vastly expanding its efforts this year, and round 2 in Lantana is shaping up to be a really great community that I get to help nurture.
My classes this quarter fill a range of interests, with a mix of Econ, MS&E, and Music (thanks to SSO). Most notably, I was one of 30 people accepted into MS&E476: Entrepreneurship through the Lens of Venture Capital. MS&E476 is filled with really amazing people, including a few undergraduates, J.D.’s, MBA’s, a couple M.D.’s, a Knight Journalism fellow, and some people with years of experience in industry who are coming back for a special MSx program through Stanford’s GSB. I not only get to chat with some of the best and brightest business-minded people at Stanford, but also learn in-depth about the inner workings of Silicon Valley’s VC environment from rising stars and legends (Bill Draper is coming in a couple weeks, for example).
In the free time that I have, I love catching up with friends from the past couple years, many of whom are now a slightly farther distance away on West Campus. I have also begun baking again this quarter, starting with my signature banana muffins for the dorm. I’m also still seeking out the insane “only at Stanford” experiences that always seem to fortuitously pop up, including getting to rehearse with the world-famous Danish String Quartet this past Wednesday. Who knows what other opportunities may arise!
Andrew Jabara 