Stanford's Great Idea

I am an enormous nerd.

I read like there’s no tomorrow, I take Scrabble way to seriously, and I think Sporcle’s Geography and Science quizzes are the best type of procrastination. 

I also really, really enjoy class.

Last year, it wasn’t so bad. True, I wasn’t really a student anymore, but I was still taking a couple classes (French and Immunology), and was spending just about every evening studying for the MCAT-monster (Medical College Admissions Test: It. Is. A. Beast.). To be honest, I was also still a little burned out from Duke- I spent my senior year taking all sorts of crazy classes and definitely pulled my fair share of all-nighters in the library. In other words, last year was a nice, welcome, break.

But this year? This year I am itching to be back in student-mode. I miss lectures, I miss taking notes, and I miss camping out in the library with a text book the size of Alaska (See? I told you I was an enormous nerd.) And while I love love love my research, I miss the constant influx of new information.

Enter Stanford.

Stanford is pioneering this fantastic idea in which full courses, taught by Stanford professors, are being offered online. For free. Although free online courses have existed for a while now, I really admire Stanford’s approach.  They’re making a point to offer feedback to all students, and striving to create a social community. Professors can even Skype and IM students!

Right now, I’m only signed up for Anatomy. I figured it would be a great head-start for medical school next year (Woohoo!), and is super interesting to boot. I’m also eyeing a few of the others—particularly, Intro to Computer Science and Models. We shall see. 

At any rate, I’m very impressed with Stanford’s endeavor and can’t wait to jump back into the (virtual) class room!

(Also, as long as I'm talking about Stanford and online education, I figured I had to mention this: Stanford's online high school! I love the idea of college courses online, but high school? I'm not sure how I feel about it...)