Welcome to my portfolio. Here you’ll find a selection of my work. Explore my projects to learn more about what I do.
Harker Near Mitra Research Project:
"Evolution Over Revolution: How Judicial Adaptation Undermined Roosevelt’s Court-Packing Plan"
This research project is conducted as part of my Harker Near Mitra scholarship program, a designation and a grant awarded to four students out of 195 to conduct independent humanities research supported by faculty.
Scholastic Art and Writing Awards (2024-2025)
Gold Key (Critical Essay category)
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Navigating Destiny: The Tug-of-War Between Fate and Free Will in Literature and Life (2024)
Silver Keys (Critical Essay category)
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The Great Gatsby as the Epitaph of the American Dream (2025)
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Grappling with Meaning: Existentialism in Eliot, Faulkner, and Fitzgerald (2025)
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Veiled Souls and Visible Masks: A Jungian Journey Through Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter (2025)
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Beyond the Shell: Psychological Continuity and Identity in Kafka’s Metamorphosis and Parfit’s Philosophy (2025)
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Debating Justice: Unveiling the Conflict between Rawls’ Theory and Nozick’s Libertarian Critique (2024)
Silver Key (Journalism category)
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Will J.D. Vance help Trump’s presidential campaign? (2025)
Honorable Mentions (Critical Essay category)
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Balancing Autonomy and Determinism: The Case for Compatibilism in the Free Will Debate (2025)
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“From Where I Come” and “Day Trippers”: Cultural Conflict in the Context of the Individual (2025)
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Bound by Darkness, Freed by Vision: The Duality of Aloma’s Journey to Freedom in All the Living (2025)
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Balancing National Sovereignty and Unity: A Historiographical Examination of European Integration Post-World War II (2025)
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Preserving Judicial Independence: The Defeat of Roosevelt’s Court-Packing Plan and Its Constitutional Significance (2025)
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Jetéing over gender stereotypes as a male ballet dancer (2025)
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The Role of Transcendentalism in Walt Whitman’s Canto 1, “Song of Myself” (2025)
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Lunging over boundaries of identity: Reconciling the conflict of Asian and American cultures on the piste (2025)
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“Three-Body” Review: Aliens and Divine Power (2024)
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Reevaluating the “Rule of Law”: A Misnomer and its Implications for Justice (2024)
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Government as a Spectrum of Individual Freedom and Societal Stability (2024)
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Forgiveness as a Virtue: an Alternative Interpretation in The Tempest (2024)
Honorable Mention (Journalism category)
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Stanford experts reflect on an ‘out-of-character’ year at the Supreme Court (2025)
Honorable Mention (Portfolio category)
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Bridging Perspectives: A Journey Through Critical Inquiry (2025)
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This portfolio is composed of the following works:
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Debating Justice: Unveiling the Conflict between Rawls’ Theory and Nozick’s Libertarian Critique
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Beyond Mary’s Room: Rethinking the Boundaries of Physicalism and the Mystery of Subjective Experience
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Grappling with Meaning: Existentialism in Eliot, Faulkner, and Fitzgerald
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Will J.D. Vance help Trump’s presidential campaign?
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Unity and Division: The Rise and Fall of Gran Colombia through the Lens of Centralism and Federalism
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Balancing Autonomy and Determinism: The Case for Compatibilism in the Free Will Debate
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As the political divide in the U.S. grows, there has been renewed attention toward having a standardized civics education curriculum at Stanford. Since 2021, Stanford has established required courses for first-year undergraduates called Civic, Liberal and Global Education, also known as COLLEGE.
Two of the principal advocates of civics education at Stanford — Debra Satz, dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences, and Dan Edelstein, professor of French — have spoken about the topic extensively. Satz and Edelstein co-wrote a New York Times guest essay on the importance of civics on college campuses last year, and Satz also teaches a course on “Democracy and Disagreement” last spring.
Now the faculty director of COLLEGE, Edelstein believes that there is a common public misconception regarding what counts as civics education.
When the Supreme Court justices convened in October 2023, they had an ambitious schedule ahead of them. Throughout the year, the court heard cases varying from the power of federal agencies to the immunity of a former president from criminal prosecution.
The court handed down various decisions during the 2023-2024 term that surprised legal experts, at times straying away from historical precedent — a practice uncommon for the court, which is widely regarded to have ideologically skewed conservative in recent years.
Bradley Joondeph ’90, J.D. ’94, who clerked for former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor ’50, L.L.B. ’52 in 1999, said some of the decisions in this term ran contrary to the court’s reputation of mostly adhering to “originalism,” a legal theory in which the constitutionality of a law is determined based on how it was originally understood at the time it was adopted.
Ohio Senator J.D. Vance became a household name after he was announced as the Republican Party’s vice presidential nominee in July.
Previously known for his 2016 book “Hillbilly Elegy” and the subsequent Netflix movie depicting his journey from his troubled family’s Appalachian roots to his years at Yale Law School, Vance has become one of former President Donald Trump’s most ardent supporters, adopting many of the former president’s positions just a few years after being a vocal critic.
Lunging over boundaries of identity
Recognizing someone’s racial or ethnic background is acknowledging a part of their identity, their history and their struggle. But it should be a gateway to deeper understanding, not a stopping point. When I was in China, my label as an “American” was a starting point for conversations, but it was the individual stories and shared experiences that truly bridged our worlds.
Labels are a double-edged sword. While they can serve as rallying points of solidarity and understanding, they can also be misused to generalize and stereotype. It’s a delicate equilibrium, and one we must navigate with care, empathy and a genuine desire to understand the myriad of stories that lie beneath each label.
Let’s move beyond the confines of these labels. Asian Americans don’t exist; it’s the individuals within this group that truly define its essence. People exist. You exist. We exist. By embracing our mutual curiosity and cherishing individual stories, we can foster a world where everyone is seen for who they truly are.
Jetéing over gender stereotypes as a male ballet dancer
A 10-year-old me walked into a ballet studio with my head down, trying to avoid the looks of other ballerinas. But I knew I was going to be noticed; as a boy, my short hair, white shirt and black tights starkly contrasted with the colorful leotards of other girls. From the moment I entered the classroom, joyful conversations were hushed into whispers, and I didn’t need to look up in order to feel the gazes boring into my head. Once I took my place at the barre, I finally looked up, and in the mirror saw myself, a thin, frail boy not knowing what to expect of the social norms in this ballet academy. But, I thought to myself, maybe this would be a one-time experience; as I go to more classes throughout the year, perhaps I’ll get to know my peers better and form good relationships. I misunderstood the rigidness of stereotypes in the ballet studio. I would make mistakes in class. A lot of them. Compared to female dancers, I started my journey late; I began training when I was 9 years old, but girls usually begin during kindergarten or elementary school. So I was behind in terms of ballet technique, and I recognized that immediately.
