Wednesday 18th July – Stanford’s got Talent
The ORA students enjoyed another day of thought-provoking lessons in the stunning grounds of Stanford. Claudia, Tim and the rest of group 6 discussed the Message in the Music, creating their own story & composing their own soundtrack. In the afternoon, Charles and his cohort developed their own bag making business, designing and pitching their rucksacks to potential buyers.
The evening offered a chance for the students to showcase their talents at the Stanford open-mic session. Initially reluctant to step forward in front of their peers, the first performance was an acoustic number from three girls from the Philippines. Next came a Brazilian ensemble, an Elmo/Mickey Mouse recital collaboration, and finally a group performance of Despacito – with ORA’s Claudia leading the vocals.
With some free time afterwards, the students were out on the lawn until bedtime, playing cards and basketball together, before a house meeting and a rundown of Thursday’s schedule.
Thursday 19th July – Silicon Valley come to Town
On the penultimate day of lessons, the students had more engaging classes either side of lunch. Ali showed some real creativity, producing his own poetry in the avant-garde movement style of Dadaism.
In the afternoon, there was more fun and games on the Wilbur field as the group staying at French house joined for more capture the flag, basketball and volleyball. The students had just enough time to dash back to the house to change and have dinner before the highly anticipated Entrepreneur Panel.
This was an opportunity for the group to hear from guest speakers, who have all had very successful careers developing their own businesses and working in the well-known Silicon Valley. As well as telling their inspiring stories of set-backs & perseverance, the students had their questions answered and got to take away nuggets of knowledge and advice to help them on their future path.
Friday 20th July – The Finishing Touches
Friday was the final day of lessons for the students at 1047 campus. Maths, Genomics, Neuroscience and epigenetics were just some of the topics taught across Stanford.
After their final lesson, the students were then invited to a cluster dinner, bringing together the two houses of 1047 & Maison Francais, just like on their first day. It was a great way for the groups to share stories and memories from the last 11 days and discuss the running order for the next day’s Global Solutions Presentations.
The students had time after dinner to formally get together and add the finishing touches on the projects that they’ve been working on. With the national anthems learnt, the performances polished and the outfits ready, it was off to bed ready for the big day.
Saturday 21st July – The Grand Farewell
Their last breakfast in the dining halls of Stanford was the perfect preparation for the students of 1047, getting ready for their Global Solutions Project. The AV equipment, lectern and presentation tables were all set up, waiting for the 5 groups to showcase their Islands.
One at a time, the groups went to the front and presented every aspect of their Island life; from the economy to the ecosystem, and the education structure to the political system. The visual displays supported the speeches and once the 5-minute time limit was reached, the audience fielded questions to the group. Each team delivered with originality and creativity and it was up to the judges to decide which island utopia would take the top prize.
Following on from the certificate ceremony, group photos were taken outside 1047. With every official photo, another 20 selfies were taken as all the students wanted to secure the memories of their Stanford adventure.
With bags packed, the students visited the mall to buy final gifts for friends and family and pick up a Caramel Frappuccino from Starbucks. With shopping bags galore, the group headed back to 1047 for their final evening party and a special Californian treat at In-N-Out Burger.
The dancing and songs went on throughout the evening and the students were seen signing each other’s notebooks and making plans to travel and visit each other. An emotional evening drew to a close and the students reluctantly filed off to bed as their summer in Stanford came to an end.
