Stanford Distinguished Careers Institute: Second Quarter Reflections

I’ve finished my second quarter as part of the Stanford Distinguished Careers Institute (DCI). Here are my continuing reflections on this amazing experience. It’s hard to believe that I’m already halfway through my DCI year.

If you are looking at my site for the first time, here’s a description of the Stanford Distinguished Careers Institute (DCI) and me, Kathy Payne.

What was different about this quarter?

I felt much more at home on the Stanford campus. I now know my way around the beautiful, sprawling campus. I’ve visited many of the buildings, stunning artworks, and hidden spaces. I sometimes just stop in awe at how gorgeous the campus is and how lucky I am to be here for a year. I don’t worry anymore that the undergrads might be wondering who the old person in the class is. I just go and participate. They’ll figure it out—they are at one of the best schools in the nation after all. And I continue to be amazed at how brilliant, kind, and thoughtful they all are. They give me great hope for the future.

What classes did I take this quarter?

I totally overdid it this quarter. I took 9 classes plus continued in my book club on “The Meaning of Life” and got a personal trainer. It’s hard to say no to all the interesting classes to take and things to do here. I also took on a consulting project that took a lot of time as well. It’s funny, I’ve blamed a lot of tiredness on work over the years, but I’ve realized that I am a significant part of the problem. I just do too much and find it hard to do things halfway. Although I will probably be an overachiever until I die, I vow to have more “white space” for spontaneity and friendships this quarter. My friend Kristian has said that he is going to sign me up for the “half-assed improvement program” so that I learn how to do things “half-assed.” Ha! We’ll see how that goes! I have signed up for fewer classes in the spring quarter. That’s a start!

For Winter Quarter I took 3 undergrad classes, 2 DCI only classes (taught by Stanford professors), 3 Stanford continuing education classes, and 1 Stanford rec class. I loved all my classes again!

Additionally, every Tuesday night we continue to meet as a DCI group and hear a guest lecture from a different Stanford professor each week. At these meetings, one or two people in our class present a twenty or thirty-minute presentation called a Life Transformation Reflection (LTR). These are always very powerful and moving presentations on something meaningful and transformative in their life. I am working on my LTR which will happen in May. Stay tuned.

Here are short descriptions of my classes:

1. Campaigns, Voting and Media. This class met 2x a week and was taught by Prof. Shanto Iyengar. He literally wrote the book on this subject. What an amazing, but also rather depressing class. Did you know that most people are set in a political identity by the time they are 5 and rarely change? Also, political identity is driving so many opinions these days regardless of the facts. For example, although the economy is still very important for people in voting, most people now view the economy primarily through the lens of their party. Republicans think the economy is good when a Republican president is in power and not when a Democrat president is in power. Vice versa for Democrats. What I loved most about this class is that every student gave a presentation on a current issue, e.g., race in politics, negative campaign advertising etc. It was truly fabulous to see how passionate, smart, and informed the students are. I learned a lot!
2. Chinese Politics. This class met 2x a week and was taught by Prof. Jean Oi. Again, amazing class. Prof. Oi is an expert on Chinese politics. I learned so much about the history of China (Mao, Tiananmen Square, Xi Jinping) and its complex political institutions, as one of the 5 remaining communist countries in the world today. I have a much better understanding of this huge nation and its impact on the world.
3. Sports Writing. 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 an amazing teacher. This class was a continuation of my Memoir Class, but it was focused on sports writing. We read many fabulous articles and story segments on sports, some focused more directly on sports and some more in the memoir style. My final essay, The Shot, as well as another essay, On Brave Old Army Team, are posted on this blog in the Creative Writing section.
4. Into the Dunes. It’s hard to explain this class, but it was incredible too. It was taught by Prof. Andrew Todhunter. I recently read his book, A Meal Observed, and I highly recommend it. Like my Redwoods class last quarter, 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—even if it was quite a bit colder this quarter. We learned about meditation and writing. We tried all different types of meditation: sketching, writing, walking, sitting, visiting our younger selves, and visiting our older selves in meditation. We spent a day hiking the beautiful Muir Beach together at the culmination of the class. My final essay for this class, A Three-Room School, is posted in the Creative Writing Section of this blog.
5. Claiming Your Stanford Experience. I was a mentor in this class for Stanford undergrads. The class was about psychogeography, which in its simplest form, is being present in your surroundings and not going from point A to point B, but rather, wandering without a specific destination and taking it all in. As you can imagine, these supremely goal oriented, Type A perfectionist students had never done this before. TBH, neither had I! It was fun! I had a pod of students and we drifted all over campus together. We also visited super cool locations on campus: The Frost Amphitheater, Bing Concert Hall, The Law School hanging gardens, Memorial Church, and Windhover Meditation center. In each location we would do something unique. For example, in Memorial Church we laid down on the pews and experienced a sound bath meditation. Super cool!
6. What Ails Democracy. This continuing ed class was taught by Prof. Larry Diamond. Prof. Diamond and the guest lecturers in this class were incredible. A fascinating exploration of the troubles in our democracy with some suggestions on how to fix what we can today. Prof. Diamond is a big supporter of ranked choice voting as one solution. He left us with some slides on things we can do for the future. If you’re interested, message me and I can send them your way.
7. American Prophet: The Life and Legacy of Martin Luther King. This continuing ed class was taught by Dr. Clayborne Carson and Dr. Mia Foster. This was a ten-week class focused on the life and legacy of both MLK, Jr. and Coretta Scott King. Dr. Carson participated in the civil rights movement and was chosen by Coretta Scott King to curate MLK, Jr.’s papers and write his autobiography (in MLK, Jr.’s own words). Dr. Carson and Dr. Foster had access to incredible archival documents and videos, and they curated them in a wonderful and educational way. Great class that reminded me how far we still must go in order to achieve Martin and Coretta’s dream.
8. Improv. Yes, I finally took a class on Improv. It was over Zoom and it feels like that wouldn’t or shouldn’t work, but it really did. I love the principles of Improv: say yes, be average, make your partner look good, don’t prepare, go with the flow and more. Our class was taught by the legendary Patricia Madson. Her book on Improv is wonderful and truly a metaphor on how to live your life. I highly recommend it.
9. Tennis. I signed up for an intermediate tennis class with undergrad and graduate students, professors etc. It was every Friday for 1 hour and 40 minutes. Students were from all over- Russia, Israel, Chile, Germany, and more countries. We had a lot of fun and did constant drills and games. Got me back into the swing of tennis!
10. Book Club on the Meaning of Life. We are such nerds that several of the people in our prior class with Prof. Scotty McLennan decided to continue again on our own. Scotty suggested the books and we continued to read and meet. We read three intense books (Wit, All my Sons and Major Barbara) and discussed the Meaning of Life and questions posed in all three books. Fascinating discussions.

What did we do for fun?

We continued to have a lot of fun. I took yoga and met with a personal trainer weekly. We’ve gone on amazing hikes. We took an afternoon day trip with many of our friends along the coast and saw spectacular views ending with a wind tasting on the Santa Cruz pier. Bodi goes on many of our hikes and is now adjusted and happy in California. She is our class mascot, and everyone loves her. She has a Stanford student dog walker (a field hockey player) who she loves and who takes her running every weekday.  Bodi is getting into field hockey shape!

What’s my big takeaway so far?

I continue to love learning and reinventing myself. I’m feeling more centered and very happy to be in CA for a year. I’ve made fantastic friends in this program, and I’ve gotten a whole new perspective on who I am and what I want for my future.

I’m looking forward to next quarter.

Thank you for reading!