Mariano Otero, MBA ’14: Finding Joy in New Experiences

Taking a creative approach to the challenges and opportunities of each day helps this student thrive.

February 15, 2014

Image

Mariano Otero, MBA ’14 | ToniBird Photography

This series features our students’ reflections on their aspirations, learnings, challenges, and joys. Here, Mariano describes how trying new things and seeing the world from different perspectives lead to a lifetime of learning and joy.

The thing that gives me the greatest joy is change: seeing, living, and absorbing new experiences all the time. I thrive in constant change, when the challenges and opportunities that the day brings are new and require innovative solutions and different mindsets.

Learning about new things is related to this point as well — mostly learning by doing, by exploring the unknown. Whether it’s a visit to a country I have never been to, or the opportunity to play a new sport, eat at a new restaurant, or watch a new play, every new experience I have in my life is stacked onto a shelf that I love revisiting.

I also experience a lot of joy from learning more about the things I already know, and from seeing things from a new perspective. Last summer, I led a global studies trip to my home country, Argentina, where I had the opportunity to teach fellow students about my own country, and could at the same time learn from them and get a new perspective on how Argentina functions through their impressions.

For media inquiries, visit the Newsroom.

Explore More

September 22, 2023
Written
Program honors academic achievement, problem-solving
Students pictured clockwise from top left: Tye Gerrard, Jessica Wang, Andrew Wooten, Zane Stiles, Mark Whittaker. Credit: by courtesy
August 22, 2023
Written
Stanford Impact Founder Ecopreneurship Fellow is developing a synthetic alternative to palm oil.
Portrait of Kelly Redmond. Credit: Saul Bromberger
August 14, 2023
Written
Meetings at Congress and the White House focused on the future of American business.
Photographed left to right: Todd Young, Jonathan Levin, and Ro Khanna. Credit: By Courtesy