May 2009

Aisha Wells, a sophomore at Stanford University

Aisha Wells, a 2011 Class Scholar, has dared to follow her various passions, wherever they lead her. A high school graduate from Walter Payton College Prep in Chicago (Class of 2007), Aisha now attends Stanford University all the way across the country. She plans to participate in a program called “Stanford in Moscow” in the fall of 2009, an opportunity for her to explore the world even further.  And even there Aisha doesn’t stop, as she is already pondering the thought of spending two quarters in Paris next year.

Aisha says that Scholarship Chicago has assisted her on this journey: “Scholarship Chicago has helped me both financially and educationally. I found the pre-college workshops to be extremely helpful, particularly the ones that focused on choosing a school and deciding on a major.” 

When asked about Stanford, Aisha says that “it has a very relaxed and “chill” atmosphere. Students are incredibly bright, talented, and driven without cold or overly serious exteriors. Most of the people I met here are unbelievably hard-working students striving to achieve one goal or the other, but you wouldn’t know it just from their personalities.” To clarify Aisha notes that sometimes Stanford creates a “floating duck syndrome” among students who “seem serene on the surface but are paddling furiously underwater to keep afloat.”

Aisha decided to attend Stanford in the hope of becoming a well-rounded engineer. Today, her major in Symbolic Systems allows her to explore the science of human cognition through the fields of psychology, neuroscience, linguistics, and computer science. Admitting that Stanford is “quite the epicenter of entrepreneurial thought… [and has] an infectious attitude for finding innovative ways of solving problems” she sometimes wonders if in the future she would be happier self-employed. For Aisha the best resources at Stanford are the professors, who sometimes intimidate her because of their illustrious careers. Aisha says “if I don’t seek help from professors now, soon I will be out of college, and will have missed the opportunity to do so”.

As for being away from home, Aisha says “I love it. I lived in Chicago for 18 years and rarely got a chance to travel to other places. I especially love California’s weather, cities and people. The Bay Area environment is incredibly chill and has a do-your-own-thing vibe to it that I find very refreshing after struggling so much to please others while in high school.”

Aisha’s career goals are multifaceted just like her personality: fact-seeking, yet creative, ambitious and grounded. Aisha hopes to use her knowledge as a future screenwriter or film director.