Sam Purtill

You will never turn in an assignment late. You will study for every single quiz, midterm, and final. You will be stressed out and have anxiety attacks. There’s no stopping. That’s the environment here; high stress, high energy, high achieving. At the end of the quarter, you will feel this great sense of accomplishment: you did it. All of it. You pulled the all-nighters. You bs’ed your way through a few IHUM sections. You slept four hours a night for ten weeks.

But everyone else is in the same boat, they’re all right there with you – same stress levels, lack of sleep, amount of homework and studying, etc. And you bond together through this common plight to make it through. I think this is intentional, because in the midst of our stress, misery, difficulty of midterms and finals, we are all becoming so close to each other.

Yesterday was the worst day I’ve had at Stanford – math midterm, IHUM essay, taxes, and six hours of classes – but I did it. I didn’t have an anxiety attack. I didn’t quit. I woke up and faced the entirety of the day. It was only possible because of all the support that I received from my close friends. And that’s why I really, really love this school: not because of what Stanford means when you go outside the campus; because the people here are truly exceptional.