For this issue, PWR had the opportunity to interview our very own student assistant, Khuyen Le. You might have seen Khuyen around the third floor, working near Jenae's cube or organizing the PWR library, or perhaps she's contacted you to take photographs of your class. Below you can find out a little bit more about her and what makes her such a great member of the PWR team.
PWR: Can you tell me a little bit about your work in PWR? What is your role? Responsibilities? What are the parts of the job that are most interesting or fulfilling of fun for you? What are the parts that you find challenging and/or want to learn more about?
Khuyen: I work as a media intern and administrative assistant - the majority of my responsibilities includes handling media-related tasks such as taking photos of classes, video-recording class presentations and interviews, designing and editing graphics and posters. I also help out with getting mail and restocking supplies. For me, the most interesting part of the job is the photography and graphic designer tasks. I get to do something related to visual arts, which I love. I also get to talk to people involved in the classes I'm helping out with, including instructors and students, and I really enjoy learning about what they are passionate about and why they are teaching or taking the class. Sometimes I get to do some web development tasks, which are challenging but is a field I want to learn more about.
PWR: What are you studying at Stanford? What is your favorite part about studying these issues/topics? Why?
Khuyen: I'm double majoring in Symbolic Systems (Cognitive Science concentration) and Comparative Literature. I like thinking about the interaction between psychology, linguistics, languages, literature and culture, and the double major combination allows me to explore these fields and gives me the frameworks I need to connect them. My favorite part about studying these topics is that the questions and issues can be very philosophical and still very relevant to practical problems. I also really enjoy talking to people in my majors.
PWR: What do you enjoy doing in your "free" time? Hobbies? Extracurricular activities? Volunteer work?
Khuyen: I'm involved in a lot of theater on campus. (Come see AATP and Shakes' shows, I'm usually in them!) I also enjoy doing photography and creative writing in my free time. I've also been trying to spend more time with my friends, especially this year.
PWR: What are some of your dreams, plans, and/or visions for the future?
Khuyen: My current after-Stanford plan is graduate school, but that's subject to change. Last summer, I did research on campus, and I'm hoping to do the same next summer. I also have a personal writing project that I want to finish. I always have plans to catch up on sleep and maybe I'll actually do it some time.
PWR: What are people, places, practices, art, music, ideas you find most inspiring and compelling right now?
Khuyen: Jorge Luis Borges's short stories have always been a great source of inspiration for me - they are clever, funny, hopeful and very human. I love the questions they pose about potentialities and possibilities. As for music, not to be clichéd, but Ariana Grande's 'thank u, next' has been on repeat.
