Imagine A World

We're back for Season 2 of IAW! Kick back, relax, and listen to Sydney and Willie's conversation with Douglas Henze (2023 Cohort).

Highlights from the episode:

• (7:04) Douglas's journey from playing football in Birmingham, Alabama, to focusing on engineering at Stanford.
• (19:43) Douglas reflects on his struggles with concussions and how his experience shaped his research focus on aging and Alzheimer’s.
• (25:18) Douglas discusses balancing gratitude with acknowledging life's challenges.
• (33:25) What do people often get wrong about STEM folks?
• (48:11) Improbable Fact(s)!

Tune into our first episode of season 2 next week! We've got new hosts and new perspectives, but the same authenticity from our KHommunity.

While we've been hard at work on the next season of Imagine A World, so have the Executive Director, Tina Seelig, and Founder of Knight-Hennessy Scholars, John Hennessy, on a new podcast called "Leading Matters." We encourage you to listen anywhere you go for podcasts! IAW will return for Season 2 next month.

The Imagine A World season finale is here, and it’s a bittersweet goodbye to Taylor Goss, a KH scholar you’ve come to know and love as our podcast co-host. As Taylor completes his time with the Knight-Hennessy community and moves on from Stanford, he shares about the world he imagines—where music and art are recognized and funded, not only as means of emotional expression, but also as drivers of social change. Taylor reflects on his homeschooling days in Louisiana, his passion projects, and the core childhood memories that helped shape where he’s going next.

Stay tuned! Imagine A World will return in fall 2024 with a brand-new season and new co-host Sydney Hunt.

• (6:12) Taylor’s experiences growing up in Lacassine, Louisiana, being homeschooled, and becoming interested in the guitar 
• (19:23) Transitioning from high school to college by taking dual enrollment classes at McNeese State University, attending a program at the Berklee College of Music, and then attending Louisiana State University on a Stamps Scholarship
• (25:46) How music became a lifelong pursuit for Taylor through providing a community, whether the mentorship he received from the Lake Charles music community, or the Coastal Voices project in the LASAL Scholars program
• (32:55) What brought Taylor to apply for Stanford and Knight-Hennessy and his advice to applicants
• (37:11) Taylor’s thoughts on his Imagine a World Statement about valuing the social and political potential of the arts and increasing public funding for arts education
• (44:55) Taylor’s research at Stanford studying music technology and policy at CCMRA and on homeless housing policy through the MPP program
• (49:00) Taylor’s upcoming move to Malibu to work as a recording engineer
• (51:25) The history of Taylor’s hair
• (54:58) Rapid-fire mailbag questions for Taylor, on everything from transmogrified kitchenware to Halloween costumes
• (1:05:11) An original song by Taylor 

The latest episode of Imagine a World features a familiar face… frequent co-host Sydney Hunt from the 2023 cohort joins the podcast, this time as the guest! Sydney, a first-year PhD student in electrical engineering, imagines a world where people see someone that looks like them doing what they would love to do. She shares her experience growing up in upstate New York, building environments that allow historically underrepresented groups to reimagine life’s possibilities, dad jokes, and more.

Highlights from the episode:

• (5:59) Growing up in Cornwall, New York in a close-knit group of family friends
• (12:59) Transitioning to undergraduate life at Duke University academically, athletically, and socially
• (21:44) How Sydney ended up majoring in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science with a minor in Gender and Sexuality Studies, and how she combines her humanities and STEM background through advocacy for diversity in STEM
• (33:58) How the Knight-Hennessy community has helped Sydney pursue her Imagine a World statement
• (39:47) Sydney’s experiences serving on the board of trustees at Duke, as a way of giving back in gratitude for the full scholarship that allowed her to study there
• (43:25) Sydney’s PhD research on brain-computer interfaces that can restore function for paralyzed people
• (50:49) Sydney’s improbable facts about room-temperature water and meal points, and her advice to applicants
• (56:09) Bonus dad joke

Highlights from the episode:

• (7:23) Thay's childhood growing up in Brazil and London, and her reflections on being a non-traditional undergraduate student at Stanford
• (14:34) How Thay's interest in politics was fostered by discussions with her uncle
• (18:55) Thay's reflections on her Imagine a World Statement about meeting people's basic needs and providing them a foundation to thrive, and how it informs her approach to deliberative democracy and her nonprofit, Skaped
• (26:37) Thay's PhD research on political polarization, and how she hopes to combine theory and practice in her work in Brazil
• (34:50) The role of music and writing in bringing balance to Thay's life (read her Stanford Daily article on coming back to herself)
• (38:48) Thay's advice to Knight-Hennessy applicants and the role of KH in her Stanford experience
• (41:01) Thay's improbable fact about her arboreal interlocutors
• (45:08) A special musical performance from Thay

Named one of 10 women changing the landscape of leadership by The New York Times, scholar Aya Mouallem is an advocate for diversity in STEM and cofounder of the award-winning initiative All Girls Code. She imagines a world where STEM education is not only accessible and equitable, but also inclusive to learners of all backgrounds and abilities. Hear her reflections on her upbringing in Lebanon and her Knight-Hennessy Scholars journey, a community she calls “a home in the world and the world in a home.”

Highlights from the episode:

• (4:56) Aya's transformative experiential learning opportunities growing up in Beirut, Lebanon, from participating in a science fair to protests to building her own nonprofit
• (10:10) Founding All Girls Code, a nonprofit to encourage girls to study STEM
• (16:12) How the privilege of experiential learning should be accessible to everyone
• (20:00) Moving at Stanford from researching biochips to making engineering tools accessible to marginalized communities, and fighting the ableism of engineering field, inspired by the experiences of a blind classmate
• (26:46) Handing All Girls Code onto future generations, by building up pathways for girls who went through the program in high school to eventually lead the program
• (30:58) Aya's connection to Lebanon, from a necklace she wears to remind herself of home, participating in anti-corruption protests in 2019, founding a fellowship program for Lebanese students, and cooking Lebanese food
• (40:40) How Aya thinks about using her online presence to magnify attention to the causes she cares about
• (44:5) Knight-Hennessy program has enriched Aya's experience at Stanford, from programming to community to growing her appreciation for and involvement in the arts
• (50:46) Aya's improbable fact about having visited over 50 museums, and her advice to applicants to the program

Joe Nail (2023 cohort), joint MBA/Master in International Policy student, imagines a world where faith, family, and courage are our guiding values, and where all Americans are bound together through service. He joins hosts Willie Thompson, Taylor Goss, and guest host Sydney Hunt to chat about emulating service exhibited by his parents, leading as an introvert, discovering his entrepreneurial spirit, launching a new initiative for US military veterans, and so much more. 

Highlights from the episode:

• (4:38) Joe’s trajectory from growing up in Kansas to attending UNC Chapel Hill, serving in the military, and applying to Knight-Hennessy
• (10:28) How Joe’s love for public service and sports are inspired by his parents
• (16:23) Joe’s passion for long-distance running, and the adventures he’s had pursuing this passion
• (24:10) The story of the start of Lead For America, Joe's nonprofit creating public service leadership opportunities across the US, and Joe’s style of leadership as an introvert
• (30:52) Project 1310, a fundraising campaign Joe is doing by running a marathon in every state to raise money for a veteran's fellowship for Lead for America
• (37:10) How Joe thinks about the role of military service today
• (44:45) Joe’s improbable facts about running in Anarctica, and his first business venture Joe’s Snack Shop
• (53:33) Joe’s advice to Knight-Hennessy applicants to think purposefully about why Stanford and Knight-Hennessy make sense as a next step for them

Will Dwyer (2023 cohort) imagines a world where future generations can look towards the natural world for joy and inspiration. He joins hosts Willie Thompson, Taylor Goss, and guest host Sydney Hunt to discuss his experience immigrating to the US from France, his love for plants and their otherworldly biochemistry, being captain of an ultimate frisbee league, and expressing himself through writing. (Also, special guest appearance by Taylor’s guitar and original song, flower facts!)

Highlights from the episode:

• (6:23) Will’s experience growing up in France and moving to America as a teenager and running track in high school
• (16:40) How Will became interested in plant biology through reflecting on plants during a summer in New York City
• (21:53) Will’s experiences working at the Carnegie Institute before matriculating as a PhD student at Stanford, and his current research using electron microscopes
• (27:20) Will’s Imagine a World statement about creating ways for future generations to have non-extractive and joyful relationships with nature
• (29:10) The role of storytelling in Will’s experiences with Knight-Hennessy, from a story he told in a weekly storytelling workshop about going to see Hyperion and subsequently published on Knight-Hennessy's website, to leading last quarter’s Community Reads program
• (35:59) Will’s thoughts on the importance of language and writing in science, from his research on the language of scientific taxonomies to his work writing and editing newsletters for the nonprofit The Good Scientists
• (44:52) Will’s hobbies at Stanford, getting to sf to play ultimate frisbee in a queer league, and taking weekend trips into nature
• (48:56) How Knight-Hennessy has shaped Will’s Stanford experience, including his friendship with Imagine a World co-host Sydney Hunt
• (52:28) Will’s improbable facts collecting the periodic table of elements as a kid and affection for the snooze button of his alarm clock
• (57:18) Flower Facts with our friend, Will Dwyer (featuring an original composition by Taylor Goss)
• (59:16) Will’s advice to applicants to Knight-Hennessy, to not be afraid to think out of the box and put your “weird foot forward” in the application

Zahra Fazal (2022 cohort) imagines a world where communities across Africa have an equal stake in setting the global health agenda. She joins hosts Willie Thompson, Taylor Goss, and guest host Takondwa Semphere to chat about her experience growing up in a scenic town in Tanzania, leaving home at 13 years old, addressing global health issues through a social epidemiology lens, and the danger of a single story in sub-Saharan Africa. Plus, her many creative endeavors, from creative writing to earring-making to crocheting!

Highlights from the episode:

• (7:12) Zahra’s experience growing up in Morogoro, Tanzania, living alone in the city at age 12, and deciding to pursue education beyond secondary school
• (17:30) The role that art has played in Zahra’s life in carrying home with her and reminding her of the community that took care of her growing up
• (23:01) What moving from Tanzania to Canada and then the US has been like from Zahra, and how she grounds her work in her experiences growing up and those of her family, especially her little sister
• (31:31) Zahra’s Imagine a World Statement about communities in Africa having a stake in setting the global health agenda, and how that focus led her to focus on social epidemiology in her time at Stanford and her thesis project on health outcomes for people with albinism in Tanzania
• (43:02) How Zahra’s experiences with poetry and literature shaped her interactions with the world, from reading voraciously as a child, writing her own stories on Wattpad, and creating an advocacy song for her work
• (56:10) Zahra’s improbable facts about crocheting and board games and advice to Knight-Hennessy applicants and scholars about the importance of mentorship