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Thank you. Thank you. Innovation happens at intersections. Innovation happens at intersections.
It's an idea that's a concept that's so true all across Stanford. That's why we'll see
business school students taking art classes. We'll see three hundred pound football players
taking yoga. There's a creative power that comes from taking two seemingly disconnected
worlds and bringing them together to create something new. Growing up, I always loved
classical music. I loved Beethoven. I loved Brahms. But I also loved hip-hop. I loved
pop music. I loved jazz. I loved the rhythm and flow of those genres. But it wasn't until
I got to Stanford that I started writing music, including the piece I just performed for you
that combines those worlds together. And I was really.. thank you! And I was really curious
why Stanford - I never thought of myself as that creative before. I had never written
music before I came to Stanford for eighteen years. Why Stanford? What about the environment?
And it really comes down to one idea. And that idea is that at Stanford, it's okay and
it's accepted - it's even celebrated - to diverge from the linear expected path for
success, right? There's the pre-med student who only takes biology classes and then there's
the pre-med student that we celebrate at Stanford who also loves to build chairs in a machine
shop or to study Mandarin. Because their mind can make incredible connections between those
different areas. My connection, my intersection was actually required at Stanford. As Dan
said, I'm a design student and for visual design class two years ago, my professor actually
required me to work on music instead of visual design. He said, "Kai, I know you play the
violin." He'd never heard me play, but he knew I played and he said, "Kai, I want you
to write something for the violin. I want you to write a composition using these design
principles of contrast, of theme, of metaphor. I want you to apply those to music." And a
whole new world opened up to me for the past two years. I've been writing music ever since
because the time I spent with music and the time I spent with design I didn't see them
as things that are scheduled against one another. They're actually forces that work together
for me to create a powerful combination for myself and express something to the world.
So this idea of intersection does not have to end with classes at Stanford. The idea
of intersection is the way we see the world. Meaning the things that we view as side-projects
or weird hobbies actually aren't either of those. They're sources of inspiration for
us to create the next new thing. Thank you.