Brace Yourselves.

Ive said it before, and Ill say it again “Slope Day is Cornell’s FAVORITE holiday.”

It is a glorious day of carefree day parties, school spirit, and all around jubilation. For most, it marks the only day when it is socially acceptable to skip classes (unless you are in that genetics class with the final at 2:30…), and for those of us who are educational pariahs and may skip a few more throughout the semester, its quite simply the most glorious day of the year.

As you wander around the slope you notice neon clad sorority women and fraternity men in lax pinnies lounging on the slope.  Those few people who don’t necessarily go out too often letting their hair down for the first time since O week, and the members of Quill and Dagger hanging out of the top floor of the West Campus towers. You see freshman year friends reconnecting, alumnae reliving their glory days like champions, and that one person who makes the fatale mistake of coming to the slope utterly unprepared. Slope day is Cornell’s favorite holiday for so many reasons but probably mostly because of its ability to bring almost the entire university together in one caged in area for a few blissful hours. Together we stand. Together we party. Together we soak up the sunshine that we haven’t seen in 5 months.

Here’s to you slope day, may you be as incredible as always. Cheers!

Slope Day is Coming. And not everyone is pleased

http://cornellsun.com/section/news/content/2012/05/01/students-slam-classes-ruin-slope-day

Ever wonder what happens when Cornell Students have free time?

They create Tumblrs and think up clever ways to adopt new social media trends. Oh yes, the lives of Cornell Students have just been simplified into gifs. Watch out world. Kudos Cornellians, Kudos.

http://whatshouldcornellcallme.tumblr.com/

Happy Dragon Day!

Wednesday afternoon I was dreamily emerging from the depths of the Plant Science building when a crowd of green first-year architects went running half naked through the Ag quad, chanting something inaudible. Last night, while I was working my tail off in Duffield until the wee hours of the morning, a large group of first years ran up to the windows, dropped their pants, and mooned the entire atrium full of Engineers. What’s going on on the CHill you ask? Dragon Day. From mid-feburary the windows of Rand Hall become a giant calendar, marking down the days until the Friday before spring break (aka Today), prepping us for one of the oldest traditions on this Campus. Every year the first-year architecture students dress up in crazy outfits, partake in a little morning dart (day-party), and parade the giant structure they’ve been working on for weeks around campus. This giant structure is a, you guessed it, Dragon. Some years ago, the Engineering students decided they didn’t want to let the archies have all the fun, so they came up with the idea that there would be an ‘epic battle’ between the Phoenix and the Dragon before the Dragon made it onto the Art’s Quad (hence the first-years running up and mooning us all last night). Once all of that hubbub is completed, the parade traipses up Ho Plaza, past Olin and Uris libraries, and onto the Quad for the tradition burning of the Dragon. Up until a few years ago, they actually burned the Dragon itself (think HUGE bonfire on the Quad) while the drunk archies danced around the embers…primitive? In 2009 the administration mandated that they come up with a separate structure or a structure that would burn cleanly when lit on fire, so since then, they have built giant nests out of wood and other organic materials that won’t pollute the Gorgeous Ithaca air. NEW UPDATE as of 9:00 AM- This year they aren’t allowed to burn anything…instead they will paint the dragon green. Much less exciting. This is probably Cornell’s biggest quirk, and weirdest obsession. Professors will let students out of class early to view the spectacle (which begins at 12:00 sharp), and it attracts a strangely large townie fan base. I generally do a drive by of the scene, just to see how out of hand its getting, and to take a look at all of the inventive costumes.

Today however will be different, after my prelim ends at 12:05, you will see me peeling wheels out of here to head home for break. Which brings me to my next point, HAPPY BREAK CORNELL! See you in 10 days.

Oh What a Beautiful Day!

Its springtime in Ithaca. Or just a really mean trick…or both. While the rest of the country is generally beginning their assent into the springtime splendor, those of us in Tompkins County are skeptically waiting our quick fall back into the winter blues. Don’t let our pessimism fool you, all of us Cornell kids are capitalizing on this unexpected March glory, we just aren’t expecting it to last. Its just our luck too, right during the week that we all have prelims! Well played Cornell, well played.

You know how sometimes…

You lose track of time. Well thats what has happened to me! Hello blogiverse, I am officially welcoming myself back to my favorite place on the internet. And in celebration, I would like to make a list. What sort of list you ask? My top 10 favorite things about this cold and strange place we call Cornell. So here it goes:

1. Salads from Terrace

2. Surprisingly spring-like days in the middle of February

3. Oxley Equestrian Center

4. When the Cornell Store opens up the Patagonia and Lilly Pulitzer boutiques…say what?

5. Chimes Concerts

6. Studying late into the night (okay, go ahead and call me strange but I actually LOVE finals. I’ll just let the subject be)

7. Diversity

8. Snow. sometimes.

9. The benefits of having blossoming hippie culture right outside our door; locally grown food, cool and unusual shopping experiences, more good food. The Farmer’s market,

10. When Olin libe tries to clear out its fresh take stock at the end of the day (around 11:50 PM) and you get free food!

Whats not to love?

Adventures in South Africa

If someone had told me 6 months ago, that I would spend my winter holiday working at one of the most beautiful vineyards in South Africa, I would have choked on my non-fat latte while laughing. Really, me? Yes, I had always thought of myself as something of a wine connoisseur. I had always envisioned myself jetting off to a foreign country for a random reason. But me?

Well, as it turns out, the opportunity presented itself as I planned out how to fill the IARD experience abroad requirement. For 4.5 weeks I worked at Steenberg Vineyards (shameless plug), learning the art of wine making, marketing, sales, and schmoozing. The estate was settled a mere 10 km away from the heart of Cape Town and proved to be just the remedy I needed after a tough semester of classes. The weather was beautiful, appx 26 C on a colder day and edging up to 34 C on a rather warm day.

As I stepped back onto the cold, snowy earth of Ithaca last week, I came armed with a killer tan and more wine related knowledge than most of my peers will have after 10 weeks in the HADM Intro to Wines class…and I didn’t even have to study!

I can tell you the difference between tannins and acidity, how sparkling wine is made in the Method Cap Classique. Why certain terroir is far better suited to growing a Chardonnay vs. a Sauvignon Blanc. I learned about the efforts that are being put into the wine industry in South Africa, and how the industry is on the forefront of sustainable agricultural practices. It was truly an amazing experience, and I am so glad that I had the opportunity to have this time abroad to bolster the knowledge I am garnering from my studies at Cornell!

In It for the Long Haul

The few friends who have come to visit me at Cornell (“its too COLD, just come to North Carolina and visit us…”) are often surprised by what they see on the weekends: Students studying in the libraries on Fridays and Saturdays. Frankly, I laugh at their shocked faces, wondering why such a normal sight is so strange to them. Then I realize, Cornell kids are different.

Cornell kids are in this education thing for the long haul; not just for the 4 (cough cough or five…) years that they spend on the Hill. They truly care about their academics and want to soak up every bit of information that our professors offer us. We come here to learn and grow, and if that means spending friday nights in the library, so be it…most of the fun doesn’t start until midnight anyway. Palms-o’clock, or should I say Pixel-o’clock?
When I grill my transfer friends about the differences between the students at Cornell vs. where they transferred from, the answer is generally the same; we care more. We come to class prepared, and eager to participate. We take notes on just about everything, and anything that you can take notes on. We raise our hands and participate, we make valid points and compete with each other to further our education.

As we head into the first day of finals tomorrow, its important to remember this; no matter how you do, no matter how close you come to the mean or how poorly you do on an exam, what matters is the effort you have put in, and whether or not you feel you have grown from the experience of taking the class. I for one an am awful test taker, and tend to have aversive reactions when scantron sheets are placed in front of me, I stay awake for hours the night before an exam rehashing facts that I pray won’t become lost to me. I have nightmares about drawing blanks on the first question (true story here folks), and/or the classic “alarm doesn’t go off, arrive late to final” dreams that send me into a panic when its only 5:00 in the morning. But through it all, and no matter how crappy I have done on some finals (and believe me, I have a few tarnishes on my record), if I can honestly say that I have tried my hardest and put my best foot forward, I am happy.

So to all of you both on the CHill, in high school, taking the LSAT or the SATs or GMATs or VCATs…any other acronyms?…I wish you the best of luck this finals season, and happy studies from my bedroom desk to yours.

Elmwood reppin in the Sun

I think my housemates and I would take the cake for being the most represented in the Cornell Daily Sun this week. Take a look!

http://cornellsun.com/section/sports/content/2011/11/30/polo-players-prepare-yale-matchup

http://cornellsun.com/section/arts/content/2011/11/30/eat-dessert-first-christmas-special

My current google searches

If anyone sitting behind me in class is currently looking at my google search, you might see something strange: Reindeer Husbandry. Yep, I am currently researching traditional reindeer herding in Northern Europe for my term paper, and yes, it is actually very interesting. This may be my favorite research topic ever. #IARDproblems.