Last Friday, Mar. 26 at 3 p.m., 7.2 percent of 32,022 students – or 2,300 applicants – were offered admission to Stanford for the Class of 2014. This number included 753 who were admitted in December under the Restrictive Early Action Program.

I usually like to complain, wait – “constructively criticize.” As an ASSU Undergraduate Senator, ”reform” is my favorite word. Whether it is revamping IHUM, loosening party-planning restrictions or promoting free speech, there are always things to be improved. The existence of student government at Stanford depends on these inadequacies.

As a columnist for The Daily, I like to critique everything from the lack of public service commitment among my peers to the absence of female leaders in campus politics to the sham of student input in University policy-making. As equal stakeholders in this institution, it is our job to improve the Farm. Loving Stanford means leaving this place better than we found it, identifying weaknesses in the status quo and offering prescriptions.

Reading about the 7.2 percent admission rate and the newly released result of Princeton Review’s “College Hopes & Worries Survey” – that if cost was not an issue and acceptance was given, Stanford is the “dream college” for 9,132 college applicants and 3,042 parents – forces us to pause.

It is so easy to lose sight of how fortunate we are to be here. During the second week of my freshman year, I met with the admission officer responsible for my file to thank her for changing my life. But, as we get older and become distracted by our hectic schedules, we tend to forget about the difficulty once associated with applying to college and the sheer luck of getting to the Farm.

So today’s column is about celebrating the splendor that is Stanford. The paradise depicted in the 84-page, “The Wind of Freedom Blows” view book on the admissions website actually exists. The place portrayed in the glossy view book is, in fact, real.  It has become a cliche to argue that we do not actually take classes under the glorious sunshine and play Frisbee on the Oval all day. But, we are truly the beneficiaries of exactly what the view book depicts.

Whether it is the top-ranking humanities and sciences departments, the strength of interdisciplinary programs, the funding available for undergraduate research, the resources ranging from the Clark Center to Green Library or the utterly amazing vibrancy of student life, Stanford is pretty spectacular. It is also one of the beautiful college campuses in the world, described in a Forbes article this month as an exquisite merge of modern technological advancement with timeless Californian Mission Revival architecture.

However, it is the people that define Stanford. There is a reason that the UAL people harp on about “cultivating faculty relations.” Stanford offers many opportunities to develop personal connections with faculty outside classroom settings through opportunities like Sophomore College, advising and research.  It is only at Stanford where I can call a professor at home who has been here for 40 years, who would be perfectly justified to ignore a lowly junior like me, to chat about anything from my thesis to which country I should live in. We should all be grateful for the faculty who share their time and their wisdom and are sources of stability in our lives.

Mentorship at Stanford also manifests in the form of student to student.  As a beneficiary of upperclassmen intellectual mentorship, I am an enthusiastic proponent of cross class year friendships. I used to think that two years do not really make a difference. They do. The experiences and lessons gained from two years on the Farm are equivalent to 10 years in the real world. As upperclassmen, we are privileged to serve as residential assistants, major advisors and student group leaders. How we approach these roles is very much shaped by our past mentors.

Irrespective of personal background or academic expertise, there is a common language of engagement, curiosity and passion among the students. For most of us not intending to remain in academia, this is probably the only time in our lives that we will be surrounded by such a fascinating collection of individuals. While there are the exceptional Olympians, published authors, NGO founders and mathematicians, everyone here cares about the world.  They are passionate about going beyond a fulfilling private life to contribute to the public sphere.

The best thing about a Stanford education? It is the belief that anything is possible.

Shelley Gao’11 writes weekly about campus issues. Shelley is the ideal candidate for the Alumni Relations office to target during its annual fundraising campaigns. Contact Shelley at [email protected].