Phil Wright

“My experiences with Stanford are different from most. I grew up on the campus from the age of four. My father was a professor in the history department. During this time, I lived an incredibly idyllic life–riding my bike to Lake Lagunita and catching tadpoles with my friends, bowling at Tresidder with my family, discovering Memorial Church mosaics that had been dumped in the field behind my house after the 1906 earthquake, walking from the locker room to Stanford Stadium with the football team…. The freedom I had growing up on the Stanford campus was unbelievable and a true blessing.”

 

“Given my experiences, I’m not sure I fully appreciated many aspects of going to school at Stanford. For one, the sheer beauty of the Stanford campus had just been my playground growing up. Many of the world renowned professors were simply my friends’ parents. Like most Division 1 athletes, what I remember most about my four years at Stanford are my teammates on the soccer team-the time spent training, competing and enjoying life with them were experiences I treasure. For five years, I also coached the Stanford Women’s soccer team. I always told my players to be creative and to use their imaginations in solving problems on the field. Without knowing, maybe I was trying to pass on what I had learned from an idyllic childhood and my Stanford soccer experiences-success and happiness come from being resilient, caring about people and having people who care about you. At least in part, Stanford taught me all of these things.”

Phil Wright, ‘76, Psychology with a minor in History