Stanford - my special mission and a reason to go there

So after all my commentary yesterday about how I didn't click with Stanford's campus, while my son met with physics professors I went on a secret/special mission to the biology department.

My daughter has read and loved Robert Sapolsky's work for years and he teaches at Stanford. You can read about him here:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Sapolsky

And you can see his books here:

http://www.amazon.com/Robert-M.-Sapolsky/e/B000APOCFE

I had hoped to find him and take a photo with him to send to my daughter. I used the handy Google Maps walking function to find my way to the biology building. In the lobby, success!

I took the elevator upstairs and loved this welcoming mural into the biology department.

Then found this. Sadly the office was dark and appeared to be vacated for the summer. But still, it was fun to snap the photo and send to dear daughter.

The hallways had many photos of birds so I sent those too.

The department had a very appealing outdoor study area.

And even a space to do a workout:

I headed back down to the lobby and thought this looked interesting too.

And a final homage photo to Dr. Sapolsky.

I saw a sign saying there was a biology store and thought perhaps they had T-shirts. It was in the basement of an adjacent building and took some looking to find, but when I got there it was a store for lab supplies for biology students. I ended up talking with the two student staffers for half an hour about Stanford, about North Carolina and the insane HB2 bill, and about environmental issues. They were so interested and it was a great conversation.

So... while I didn't click with Stanford I did experience what it might be like if I were considering attending with the idea of working with a very specific professor or department. That would make the difference for sure in a decision to attend this very prestigious university.

I also think many of you might enjoy Dr. Sapolsky's books. I'd start with WHY ZEBRAS DON'T GET ULCERS, which is about the science of stress. You can get it here:

https://www.amazon.com/Why-Zebras-Dont-Ulcers-Third/dp/0805073698?ie=UTF8&qid=1467899789&ref_=la_B000APOCFE_1_1&s=books&sr=1-1

You might wonder what my daughter's response to my mission was.

"I sure hope he doesn't take out a restraining order on you."

:)