Julian S.
About Me
Hello, my name is Julian, and I'm a full-time sophomore at Stanford OHS! While born and raised in the United States, I am a citizen of four countries, and a native speaker of three languages, so the diverse international community at Stanford OHS is a perfect fit for me. I really enjoy Latin, math, and anything related to the ancient world – indeed, I love participating in the wonderful community of the Latin Club, introducing people to the mathematical wonders of the ancient world in the Mathematica Pristina Society, and helping to lead the Ancient Greek Society!
Why I Chose Stanford OHS
Prior to Stanford OHS, I had already taken some online classes, and I’ve personally loved them all, perhaps because the classes I’ve taken were designed, rather than forced, to be in that format. And that is definitely the case at Stanford OHS! The classes here are interactive seminars with engaged instructors and students! You may join for the university-level math or physics courses, but then fall in love with the inspiring language, Core, or English classes – or vice-versa! I also liked the flexible scheduling that would allow me to continue my extracurricular higher math activities.
Furthermore, I knew I'd appreciate the intellectually-curious and diverse student body. As Richard Rusczyk once said, “It’s essential that [students] find a peer group that will challenge them. If you are the smartest person in the room, you need to find a different room.” With all the highly academic students, I knew that I wouldn't be the smartest person at Stanford OHS. Humbly, I definitely am not, and it's amazing! It's been great to learn from people who share my interests and learn from those who are passionate about other areas. We've got artists, writers, MOPers, athletes, et cetera – there is a community for the interests of every student, and if not, you can create one!
What I Love About Stanford OHS
At such an academically-rigorous school, the classwork is definitely challenging, but also very rewarding - and the option to take university-level classes even as a freshman is amazing! One of the most difficult parts of Stanford OHS is definitely choosing what courses not to take, as all of them have been amazing so far! The student support and extracurricular opportunities at Stanford OHS are outstanding, but I think everyone would highlight these strengths of the school. I've also made many friends from all over the world!
Above all, the instructors at Stanford OHS are absolutely incredible, and are clearly passionate about what they teach and often offer extra resources for you to explore topics from within and outside of class more deeply. One instructor actually spent some time during the summer to help me with a translation project, informing me about peculiarities of post-classical Latin as well as grammar not covered by the Latin textbook from our class. And just last week, another instructor reached out to me in the evening after our class to go deeper into a comment I made in class, and we exchanged ideas about philosophy and translation, and he gave me resources about philosophers the class used to cover. All my math instructors at Stanford OHS happen to have PhDs, are able to follow student proofs on the spot, and also discuss higher level topics not touched upon by the textbooks. In general, Stanford OHS classes are not lectures, but interactive and participation-based discussions! I hope the college I go to will be as good of an experience as Stanford OHS!