Student Voice

Here for the Taking

by Aly Remtulla

You get what you settle for."

That's how Louise put it to Thelma in the 1991 movie. It's a line that has stuck with me as I listen to Stanford students carp about everything from large classes to inaccessible professors to the lack of research opportunities.

As Stanford students, we often complain about our education. We blame the faculty, administration, sometimes even alumni. We listen when our classmates tell us that their professors aren't available during office hours or that they can't find a laboratory to do research in. We nod our heads in sympathy as other students talk about the lack of interaction with the faculty. We share their disappointment when they discover that the one class they hoped to take at Stanford has been canceled.

While I empathize with my peers, I have had a very different experience from many of them. I came to Stanford as a biology major but had not yet taken a single biology course here when I approached Professor Paul Berg, 1980 Nobel laureate in chemistry, about working in his lab. Paul was very receptive to my proposal, and I began lab work after a quarter of directed reading. Many people asked me how I had come upon such a research position, and the answer is simple--I had a strong belief in my ability and I pursued the opportunity.

While working for Paul, I realized how few undergraduates, especially in the sciences, had the chance to interact with top-level faculty. That year I approached Vice Provost Ram