Walking the streets of Stanford

Week 1


Moving in

We were warmly welcomed to Stanford during the Welcome Weekend on the 18th of June as we heaved our heavy luggage to the check-in location at Roble Field. It was there we collected our Summer Session goodies and our Stanford IDs.

First picture at Roble Field

Our accommodation for the next 8 weeks was at Branner Hall, a quaint housing building located in Stanford Neighbourhood N. This was also the housing for all other Stanford IHP students and we were able to meet new friends of different nationalities and courses here.

The majority of us had 3 to 4 roommates in a room; while the configurations of the rooms were different, there was ample space for storage and study. (Although pro tip: there isn’t a fan in the room so it can sometimes get a little stuffy during the day, so a portable table fan might come in handy)

In the few days before our classes, we were brought on guided tours around the Stanford campus where we learnt more about the history behind the magnificent campus buildings.

There were plenty of opportunities to mix around with others to get to know them better as the RAs of Branner Hall organised several bonding programmes such as the Bonfire at Lake Laguinta!

Lake Lagunita (which has dried up for quite some time)

Tragedy Strikes

On our second day of lessons, the heat wave at Palo Alto caused a forest fire nearby our campus, and the entire campus lost power for several days. All halls and classrooms were unable to function normally due to the lack of electricity and classes were officially cancelled for 3 days but that didn’t dampen our spirits!

The school responded quickly and provided aid in terms of handing out torchlights to us and they opened up several dining halls for respite and other functional housing halls for us to do our laundry and shower temporarily.

With classes cancelled, we took the opportunity to explore nearby places outside of Stanford. Together with other IHP students, we went to places like the Apple Park in Cupertino (We got to see the Apple building designed by our SUTD Prof!) and Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco.

With the power finally restored, we’re looking forward to attending in-person classes once again next week!

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