Meet Our Peer Advisors for
2012-2013

Favorite class / professor (and why): One of my favorite classes is Professor Rosenfeld’s “Changing American Family”. This course explains the evolving structure of family through anecdotal and quantitative sources, all the while elaborating through historical, political, and global contexts.

Favorite book (and why): One of my favorite novels is Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird. Through her writing, Lee was able to contribute to the national discourse about race relations primarily, but also gender relations and the nature of the law in general.

Career goal / Future plans: I hope to help tech companies in Silicon Valley become more closely linked with education. I believe a lot of these companies have vast resources and are looking for strategic ways to diversify their workforce. I wish to be involved in connecting underrepresented K-12 students with the proper science and technology resources to help them thrive in this type of economy.

Extracurriculars:

Black Student Union - Political Action Chair

Haas Education Partnership Fellow for Ravenswood Reads Tutoring Program

Why I'm majoring in Sociology:

I am majoring in Sociology because I have always been interested in social change. As an Asian American gay rights activist, my life time goal has been to fight against racism and homophobia. As Sociology explores how the society works, it has provided me a better understanding of how to create changes in the society. Moreover, Sociology is a fun subject to study!

What I like best about Sociology:

Gaining a sociological perspective/imagination! I love how sociologists look at a social phenomenon and always try to find a reason behind why it’s happening the way it is. This aspect of Sociology has enabled me to always question the most obvious things that I see in my daily life (e.g. why male students behave differently from female students, why cafeteria tables in schools are racially divided, etc.). Sociology gave me a completely new way of looking at this world.

Favorite class / professor (and why):

My favorite class was “Race and Ethnic Identities” with Michael Rosenfeld. This was my favorite class, because it was a small class that allowed students to freely share their views on race and ethnic identities. This class made me rethink about race and ethnicity, as I learned that race and ethnicity is socially constructed.

Favorite book (and why):

I don’t have one favorite book. However, I love reading books for my sociology classes.

Career goal / Future plans:

I plan to continue studying Sociology. I love doing research and I plan to pursue a research career.

Other academic interests (majors, minors):

Minor in Modern Languages (Spanish and Chinese) and East Asian Studies.

Extracurriculars:

Co-chair of Stanford Queer and Asian

Something else you should know about me:

I love studying foreign languages and I usually study Chinese or Spanish during my spare time. I also love growing plants!

Why I am majoring in Sociology:
The family unit and its varying shape and form is a societal institution I have been fascinated by for some time, initially in the context of my own family situation. Growing up in a unique family model, with parents who divorced early and retained equal joint custody, I have always been curious as to how my conceptions of family and its structure differed from the more conventional nuclear family models experienced by most of my peers and within society in general. For me, my initial intellectual fascination stuck, and upon entering my undergraduate career at Stanford I found the opportunity to study the family systems within the context of academia unprecedented, and thus quickly gravitated to the societal explanations of it's evolution that Sociology offered me.

What I like best about Sociology:
The aspect I love most about my Undergraduate study in Sociology, is the academic overlap across courses. With my initial interest in Sociology sparked by Professor Rosenfeld’s Changing American Family Course and my subsequent involvement in his research project, I have come to observe how converging influences of ethnic, racial, and gendered social systems work together to apply pressure and evolve the family system within American society.
Additionally, the intimacy of this department at Stanford, has allowed me to connect with world class researchers in a way I never thought possible. For the last two summers, I have had the privilege of assisting my faculty advisor, Professor Michael Rosenfeld, with his research project surveilling and evaluating the rise of the alternative family in modern society. My experience within this project allowed me to discover the interworkings of academic exploration in the discipline of Sociology with the family and it allowed me to see real life case studies of alternative family interactions and relationships framed by an analytic structure and conceptual framework provided by Professor Rosenfeld and background from my curriculum in the Sociology department.

Favorite Class/ Professor
SOC 155: The Changing American Family with Professor Michael Rosenfeld was the first Sociology course I enrolled in at Stanford. I credit this course with jump-starting my interest in this field of study. The subject matter exciting me in a way I had never before experienced academically. Professor Rosenfeld is an inspiring lecturer and the course's structure and reading material was engaging from start to finish. Professor Rosenfeld has served as an incredible peer advisor and mentor. I attribute my role in his research project with cultivating my interest in becoming an academic researcher.

Favorite book (and why):
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. This book was on the required reading list the summer before my Freshmen year at Stanford. I gravitated to the book's explanation of the factors that contribute to high levels of success. Through it's explanation, I came to understand how an individual's culture, family, their generation, and other idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing contribute, and ultimately shape their ability to become outliers within a society. Through it's explanation, I came to understand how these factors ultimately contributed to my own success, and allowed me to attend the elite undergraduate institution, Stanford University.

Career goal / Future plans:
Over the course of my undergraduate career with this department, I have illuminated a strong interest in pursuing an academic career as a Sociologist, with the intent of pursuing a Ph.D with a possible concentration in this topic of the American family system, or an alternative outgrowth from my work as an undergraduate. My first hand experience assisting Professor Rosenfeld on his research project surveilling and evaluating the rise of the alternative family in modern society has exposed me to a process of study I hope to conduct as an academic one day.

Extracurriculars:
Intern at the Center for Relationship Abuse Awareness
Member of Los Salseros Dance Team
Harpist

Why I'm majoring in Sociology:

I am interested in studying societal forces and how they influence people's behaviors. I think that too often we only consider individual-level decisions and sociology helps us better understand society on all levels.

What I like best about Sociology:

I like that it is a small major and that students get a lot of personalized attention and support on projects

Favorite class / professor (and why):

Sociology of Gender with Professor Correll- I think this class should be required for all college students. It explains a lot about gender disparity in various fields and provides empirical support. This class proves that feminism shouldn't be a divisive topic but rather a cause for which everyone should fight.

Career goal / Future plans:

I want to go into something involving writing and food. I would also like to do something for the community, perhaps involving providing accessible food to under-serviced communities.

Other academic interests (majors, minors):

Italian minor

Extracurriculars:
I enjoy cooking, reading, traveling, studying Italian culture and language, and writing. I write food reviews for the Stanford Daily's Intermisison section.