Stanford Distinguished Careers Institute: First Quarter Reflections

I’ve finished my first quarter as part of the Stanford Distinguished Careers Institute (DCI) and am writing to share my reflections on this amazing experience. I’m doing this for my own sake—to remember and look back—but also to share in case anyone is interested in my journey.

Here’s a description of the Stanford Distinguished Careers Institute (DCI) and me, Kathy Payne.

So, how did I get here?

Why am I going back to school at Stanford after a 30+ year career in law and media? Seriously, what was I thinking going back to school with college and graduate students at my age? Like most crazy adventures in my life, this started with a push from David Payne- risk taker and adventurer extraordinaire. I like to think that in our lives, I keep David safe, and he keeps me open and adventurous. It’s a balance!

David heard about the Stanford Distinguished Careers Institute through research and friends and decided this was just what we needed to begin the adventure of the last third of our lives after our intense corporate careers. Only problem was that when he decided to apply, I was still in the middle of an enormous job at Amazon in Seattle, WA. I didn’t really have the capacity to think much beyond getting through each week in my job as Head of the Content Acquisition Management team for Amazon’s Prime Video Channels. So, in typical fashion, David sold this in to me as something he would apply for– odds were low he would get accepted right away and if he did, we could decide if I wanted to do it too. Of course, David got in right away and he asked me to apply too and go as his partner. Under stress of being left out, I applied too and was accepted as a partner in the program without really knowing a lot about what I was getting in to.

I prepared to leave Amazon, hoping to wind everything up by March of 2020 so that we could have a summer of travel and then move to CA from Seattle in the fall of 2020. Then, like the 2020 Olympics and everything else in the world, our DCI program was delayed because of Covid, first to January of 2021 and then ultimately to September of 2021. I ended up staying at Amazon until October of 2020 and we moved back to Atlanta to ride out Covid closer to family and friends while we waited for DCI to hopefully start in the fall of 2021.

Then, amazingly, it happened! We moved to CA in August of 2020. We drove cross country with our Covid puppy (Bodi) for this adventure. We rented an apartment in Menlo Park and started DCI in September of 2021 following a one-week orientation about how to register for classes, take weekly Covid tests (Stanford is very diligent about stopping the spread of Covid), navigate the immense campus and be technically ready to go back to school!

How does it feel to be a student again?

It’s awesome! We get to have all the best things about learning- amazing professors, interesting classes with the best and the brightest students—without any of the pressure of grades, exams or papers. Also, we have student IDs (yes, we’re real students; technically, non-matriculated graduate students) and get to use the fabulous student gyms and go to all the student sporting events, guest campus lectures etc. at no additional cost. I’m gonna say- you haven’t really lived completely until you sit in the student section at a football game after you’ve already put your own kids through college. And the bonus of riding your bike through Stanford’s incredibly beautiful campus can’t be beat!

What classes did I take this quarter?

I took 6 classes plus a book club on the simple subject of “The Meaning of Life” taught by a Stanford professor. Additionally, prior to starting classes, I took a day and a half intensive seminar on “Designing Your Life” taught by renowned Stanford Design School Professor Dave Evans (you can buy his recently published book on this topic). Yes, I am resigned to the fact that I will be an overachiever until I die!

I took 2 undergrad classes, 2 DCI only classes (taught by Stanford professors) and 2 Stanford continuing education classes. The reason for the continuing ed classes (which DCI allowed us to take at no additional cost) is because Stanford reduced our ability to take 4 undergrad classes down to 2 classes because like most universities this year, Stanford is over enrolled due to students delaying college or graduate school due to Covid and also, wants to reduce class size to minimize the risk of Covid. It all worked out– I loved all my classes!

Additionally, every Tuesday night we meet as a DCI group and hear a guest lecture from a different Stanford professor. At these meetings, one or two people in our class will each present a 20-30 minute presentation called a Life Transformation Reflection. These are always very powerful and moving presentations on something meaningful and transformative in their life. I’ve learned that everyone has a story that you know nothing about and that changes your entire perspective once you take the time to find out. And I have no idea what I am going to say in mine. I need to work on that still!

Here are short descriptions of my classes:

1. The Italian Renaissance and the Art of Success. This class met 2x a week and was taught by Prof. Emmanuel Lugli. What an amazing class. He brought to life the Italian Renaisssance painters, including a deep dive on women painters in this era that many of us have never heard of. He was an amazing lecturer and was brilliant, funny and kind. Anyone who can bring Prada and Taylor Swift up in the same Renaissance class and tie it all in has my vote. He is teaching an abridged version of this class over Zoom starting in January through Stanford Continuing Education classes this winter so you can sign up and take it too!
   
2. U.S. Relations with Iran. This class met 1x a week for 3 hours and was taught by Prof. Abbas Milani. Again, amazing class. Prof. Milani is a renowned expert on Iran and U.S. relations. He writes individually, and also joint essays with Michael McFaul (former ambassador to Russia), that are published in the NYT. He has authored numerous books about Iran and the Shah. He was himself imprisoned in Iran. He taught at Tehran University before starting and leading the Iranian Studies department at Stanford. I learned so much about the history of Iran and its complex relations with the U.S. and many other countries. And Prof. Milani is just a fabulous person.
   
3. Writing the Memoir. This class was a DCI only class taught by Prof. John Evans who has written two memoirs. John is an award-winning writer himself and also an amazing teacher. I enjoyed this class so much and developed very strong relationships with my classmates as we all read and commented on each other’s deeply personal and moving memoirs. We also read a lot of great memoir writing from noted authors throughout the class. And, recurring theme here, John Evans is also an amazing person. My final essay, Kissing Frogs, as well as another essay, Secrets, is posted on this blog in the Creative Writing section
   
4. Into the Redwood Grove. It’s hard to explain this class, but it was incredible too. It was taught by Prof. Jonah Willihnganz who is the Director of the Stanford Storytelling Project and Prof. Aneel Chima who is the Director of Stanford’s Health and Human Performance. We also had a great TA, Jessica Jacobson, who is also a PhD candidate. Another theme- everyone is brilliant here!! One of the unique parts about this class is that it was taught at the O’Donoghue Family Farm which is an actual organic farm on Stanford’s campus (which is also called “The Farm”). This fact added to the unusual and calming nature of the class- learning outside while butterflies floated by and birds chirped. We did wonderful readings about transitions, being in the moment and living life fully. We discussed all these topics from a literary and psychological perspective. We spent an entire day in the Redwoods Forest together at the culmination of the class. I got to know my professors and my classmates in incredible ways and feel I am able to be more present than I have ever been. And again, truly wonderful and incredibly brilliant and kind professors. My final essay for this class, A Walk with Bodi, as well as a poem I wrote when we were in The Redwood Forest is posted in the Creative Writing Section.
   
5. Democracy and Technology. This continuing ed class was taught by Prof. Jim Steyer (his brother Tom ran for President in 2020). Professor Steyer and the guest lecturers in this class were incredible: Thomas Friedman, Nick Kristof, Hillary Clinton, many other noted journalists and government officials. A fascinating exploration of the dangers that technology is posing to our democracy. We read excerpts from Jim’s incredible book on this subject as part of the class.
   
6. Powerful Women in Film. This continuing ed class was taught by Mick LaSalle, movie critic for the SF Chronicle. A super fun class. I watched 10 movies that I might never have watched and we discussed the powerful female performances. Great class.
   
7. Book club on the Meaning of Life. This was a fun side class facilitated by Prof. Scotty McLennan (the reverend in the Doonesbury cartoons by Gary Trudeau is inspired by Scotty who is a friend of Trudeau). Scotty has both a law degree and a divinity degree and teaches in Stanford Business School. We read three intense books (Deep River, The Sweet Hereafter and Good Will) and discussed the Meaning of Life and questions posed in all three books. Fascinating discussions led by an amazing professor.

What did we do for fun?

As you can imagine, all those classes took a lot of work- even if we weren’t taking the tests or writing papers. But, we did take time for fun. We have a bucket list of cool things to do in the area. We go hiking most Friday afternoons and the hiking here is beautiful. We’ve done a lot of wine tasting, seen shows in San Francisco, gone to concerts and eaten a lot of nice dinners in town. We exercise at all the great facilities here- yoga, tennis, basketball etc. We go to Stanford football, volleyball and basketball games. I’ve mentored some young women at Stanford undergrad and business school. We still need to get to Tahoe, Big Sur and Yosemite while we are out here, but we will find time for those trips too. Finally, we are developing great friendships with our DCI classmates who are going through this program with us.

What’s my big takeaway so far?

I love learning and reinventing myself. I’m still working to find what my purpose will be for the next adventure, but for right now, I’m just trying to be present and, in the moment, to learn, to be open to new friendships and enjoy this unique opportunity.

And good news: my 6-month checkup from my melanoma surgery was great (no new issues), my torn MCL in my knee from my random dog injury seems to be almost completely healed and I hit my 200th ride on Peloton. I feel good about finishing up 2021 and look forward to 2022 and my 2nd Quarter at Stanford.

Thank you for reading!