I Am Stanford: Patrick Crowley

Hey everyone,

First, I would like to congratulate all of you on your acceptance to and, more importantly, decision to attend the realest, chillest, funnest University in the world, and I know I speak for the entire Stanford community when I say that we are incredibly excited for your arrival in September.

A little bit about myself: my name is Patrick Crowley; I love sports and the outdoors; I hail from Bakersfield, California, a relatively large, smoggy haven in the central valley commonly referred to as the “Armpit of California” but loved unreservedly by all of its residents. I have two younger brothers who alternate between being likable and being downright annoying, and last but definitely not least, I must mention that I have a mind-blowingly cute Corgi named Kula.

For me, going to Stanford was a life-long dream of mine, so, naturally, when I opened my acceptance “letter” on Friday the 13th my college search ended on the spot. After graduation in May, I spent the ensuing months travelling, sleeping and, mostly, hoping that September would come faster. Upon arriving at Twain (my freshman dorm), I walked down the hall and was subsequently bombarded with hellos, fist bumps and smiles. The energy and friendliness in the air invigorated me, and I felt welcome at once. A big concern that I had prior to arriving on campus revolved around the notion of making friends. This fear proved to be unfounded as I connected with my hall mates instantly and had cemented great friendships during my first few weeks.

Finding your passions seems like a daunting task at first. In the first weeks of school, I was bombarded by flyers, emails and enthusiastic upperclassmen all trying to convince me to join their respective clubs and organizations. I signed up for way too much and quickly found myself overwhelmed by the prodigious quantity of meetings. Getting involved at Stanford was incredibly easy, but choosing, which activities to pursue was decidedly more difficult. I played football and basketball in high school, and I wanted to continue playing sports throughout college, but I am neither big enough, nor talented enough to play either football or basketball at the varsity level. During the student activities fair, which occurs on the Friday of the first week of classes, I had a conversation with some members of the Club Rugby team, and decided to give rugby a shot. I had no experience in the sport and quite honestly was a bit concerned about trying something this new. However, the team was incredibly welcoming, and it turns out that most of the players had not played rugby prior to college. Over the course of fall quarter, rugby grew on me, and I greatly looked forward to rugby practice on Mondays and Wednesdays. Rugby, like most club sports, has a reasonable time commitment of ~10 hours per week. Rugby provided the best of both worlds, I was able to play at a competitive level and meet a great group of guys without consuming all of my time. The team had great success, and we finished third in our conference. In addition to rugby, I also joined Stanford Coaching Corps an incredible organization, which pairs coaches with teams in need. Coaching youth soccer at the Boys and Girls Club was one of the most rewarding experiences of my freshman year, and I thoroughly enjoyed giving back to the local community. I am certain that I will remain involved in both rugby and Coaching Corps for the duration of my time at Stanford.

Another concern of mine upon arrival on campus was deciding which classes to take. I was really unsure what courses I wanted to pursue, so I spoke with my Pre-major Advisor and Academic Advising Director. Both provided sound advice, and I ended up with a reasonable course load that balanced both more math intensive classes with reading and writing based classes. Finding the right course load can be a difficult chore, but by tapping into the resources available, I had a great freshman year.

Despite my ridiculous expectations, Stanford was everything I could have hoped for and more. During my freshman year, I met incredible people, took fascinating courses and learned that I was more than capable of living on my own and taking care of myself. A few words of advice. Take full advantage of your free time during NSO and the first couple weeks of Fall Quarter and try to meet as many people as possible, because there will never again be a time in your life in which you are surrounded by such a large number of friendly, intelligent and outgoing peers with an abundance of free time. Spend some time exploring the university; Stanford has a beautiful campus with tons of great hideaways. Enroll in classes that you are genuinely interested in and above all, smile: you go to Stanford.

Cheers to four great years,

Patrick

Patrick Crowley

Management Science and Engineering
Class of 2018

If you have a Stanford Story you would like to share, contact melissas@stanford.edu.