Cornell and Beyond

I’m back in the good ole USA. I guess I need to start calling it that instead of “the states”. And I suppose it is finally time to look back over my time in England. (I’ve put it off for long enough.)

I’ll say this, it gave me some amazing experiences. When else can you see the ruins of Pompeii, tour Westminster Abbey, and visit Dublin, all within a couple of weeks? When else is the pronunciation of every other word a matter important enough to discuss in depth and heatedly. (And I was in England!) Basil, aluminum, tomato, even leisure and scone!

I’ll tell you something else, we may speak the same language, but it is not a coincidence that there is an ocean between us. A few days before I left, I commented to my flatmate that I found the level of personal information people were willing to put up on facebook slightly disturbing. She replied jubilantly, asserting that “the British reserve” had rubbed off on me. While I’m not sure if this case, I’d like to think that these past 5 months helped me grow more than I would have been able to do at Cornell.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that these were not the best 5 months of my life. I was dealing with some rough personal events and being away from home exacerbated things. But on the other hand, being abroad let me reflect on things quietly, without being disturbed by other opinions, values, and ideals. So I will say that I would do it again, without hesitation, if I had to do things over. Just because it wasn’t the best 5 months of my life, doesn’t mean it wasn’t amazing and worthwhile.

Which is why I’d like to conclude with the suggestion that if you are considering going abroad, definitely look into it seriously. You’d be surprised at how the costs come out, so don’t let finances get in your way. Studying abroad is definitely not for everyone, but if you have that desire, don’t let anything hold you back. I would only say carefully think about where you want to go. Because although you’ll be in a foreign country, a city is a city is a city, just as the countryside is the countryside is the countryside. Also, don’t feel discouraged about language barriers, as that’s what your stay is for. (If I had to choose a different place to go abroad I would probably choose France so that I could challenge myself at that other level. Imagine coming back fluent!)

OK, enough of that inspirational, motivational jazz. That’s all for now. Cheers!

I am officially 3 days away from leaving England. It is one of the most bittersweet moments (or arguably, several days) I’ve ever experienced. On the one hand, I am crushed about leaving all the wonderful people I’ve met here. On the other, I’m incredibly excited to be seeing friends and family again, and getting back into the familiar groove of the 607. (Ithaca.)

Last night I said goodbye to one of my flatmates. We sat in the park till late, on the top of the hill overlooking the electric lights of nearby towns, with Cabot Tower illuminated as if out of a movie. We talked about everything, from the American electoral college system to Mean Girls. I made her promise to come visit me. Sigh.

Then today, I said goodbye to the place I volunteered for the past few months at a local hospital. They were all so nice, and since I had been going two days a week, I had gotten to know a lot of the people there quite well. They got me a cake that said “Good Luck Caroline” and flowers. It’s a little embarrassing but I almost cried on the way home. I held back though: I’m not even leaving yet!

Well, I know I promised a thought-provoking and intimate recap of my time here, but I don’t feel up to fully confronting the realization that I will be leaving. So I hope you’ll bear with me, I will do it…I just need a little time to say my goodbyes. I’ll leave you with a very apropos song:

Here’s to the nights we felt alive
Here’s to the tears you knew you’d cry
Here’s to goodbye
Tomorrow’s gonna come too soon

~Eve Six, ‘Here’s to the night’

Well, here’s to goodbyes, the bittersweet ones.

Perhaps it might be of interest to you how finals go in the UK.  (If not, you might want to skip this entry.)

First and foremost, they were spread out.  Very spread out.  Finals last from about mid May to mid June.  That’s right, a month full of exams.  One good thing is that there is a paucity of frustrating, last minute cramming.  (If you handle the situation right.) Which is also the bad thing because sometimes it seemed like this was the month that would never end.  Also, I had it easy, with only 4 exams during this period.  I overheard someone saying that they had 10, yes TEN finals in the period of as many days.  Yikes!

Second, most of my exams were essays.  This was nice because they were straightforward (for the most part) and basically required you to just know your stuff.  You might be saying, well, duh, but it was a relief to me after some of the exams I’ve taken at Cornell.  (Bio101 anyone? Need I say more?)

Third, some people complain at Cornell when finals are worth 40% of your grade.  None of my finals were 40% of my grade.  One class it was 100%, another 70%, and another two were 60%.  Yikes again!

Fourth, here in England people revise.  There is no studying.  Only revising.

Fifth, and this might be a glitch at Bristol, but I was bussed to two of my finals to an ultra-secret location 15 minutes away.  OK it wasn’t so secret but it was really random.  Still not sure why they did this.  Shrug.

OK, I can’t think about finals anymore.  Instead I will leave you with English phrase of the day.

“Bad luck” – equivalent to the American “That sucks”

I really want to bring these phrases back with me but I am afraid that without the accents involved they will ring empty. Sad face. 11 days till I am completely without the accents I have grown so fond of. Sigh.

Enough tangents! I’m off, but stay tuned for a thoughtful recap of my entire semester in review.

I re-activated facebook. Before you go all hog-wild on me and my hypocrisy, let me just say that I stand by my choice.

Going cold turkey for a few weeks really helped me re-evaluate my priorities. (And find new websites to procrastinate with.) And although facebook does sometime seem like a dark cesspool of stolen time, it’s also my main avenue for keeping contact with friends across the pond. Hello friends across the pond!

You may have noticed that I’m still blogging.  Well, get used to it because I get to blog for this WHOLE summer while I do research at Cornelly!

Yay!

Today, as I was walking back home from the library at 10 PM, I was reminded of a Cornell anecdote you might find amusing.

First let’s set the scene. 10 PM, me in my super cool backpack, walking back home from the library on a Thursday night. Here in Bristol I just happen to live off a very hip and happening street, so I was passing tons of bars and restaurants. And, because it was such a beautiful day today, the front windows of said bars and restaurants were wide open, with people lounging in front of them with their drinks, looking quite stylish in the hip, dimly lit establishments. Nobody gave me a particularly incredulous look that said, “You dare show up on Park Street with a backpack past 5 PM? Really?” But I couldn’t help feeling slightly un-cool all the same.

Anyways, back to my anecdote. Freshmen year, my friends and I were walking to Collegetown one evening after a long day at the library. It was around 9 PM, and we were innocently discussing what we would have for dinner. It was finals week, so all of us were particularly disheveled, in sweats and with backpacks the size of baby buffalo. When, a dark SUV passes us by, the windows get rolled down, and a guy screams out the window:

“YOU GIRLS ARE UGLY, –AND YOU WEAR BAD CLOTHES!”

I think we all looked at each other in disbelief for a second and then promptly burst out laughing hysterically. You would think that getting into Cornell would allow you to think of slightly more clever insults. Anyway, that single moment is a constant source of amusement for us, and whenever I’m walking somewhere ‘happening’ after a long day of studying, I think about it and smile.

PS- My friends are NOT ugly. And I’m not just saying that, they are all pretty smoking. (And not just by Cornell standards…normal standards as well! Wink, wink, I jest of course…the whole “Cornell girls are ugly” bit is a load of b period s period, if you’ll pardon my expression. The girls at Cornell are no more all ugly than they are all dumb, or all athletic, or any other generic adjective you’d like to throw out there. Cornell boys, on the other hand… I kid again, of course.)

PPS- Insult of the day. My flat mate, screaming at a friend in a heated debate about Al Gore’s little venture into global warming and the movie industry…

“AMERICANS ARE IGNORANT!” She turns to me and says quietly, “No offense.” Turns back to her opponent, “THEY’RE IGNORANT AND HE HAS TO REACH THEM SOMEHOW.”

Don’t worry, I took this in stride, which I’ve learned to do quite well at this point. There are pluses and minuses to being American, and I can handle this minus.

While there are certainly vast cultural differences between the US and the UK, one thing with college students stays constant.

Come final time, the libraries become **suddenly** packed full of students. You need to walk around for 10 minutes just to find a free seat.  It’s kind of like libraries become the new ‘place’ to be.

I’ll just be glad when I can walk around the library and not get the feeling that the amount of people in the room is compromising the oxygen concentration.

The weather forecast tells me to expect:

Rain tonight
Rain and wind tomorrow
Showers and wind Saturday
Rain on Sunday
Showers on Monday
PARTLY CLOUDY on Tuesday… WHOOHOO…wait, don’t get too excited, because…
Showers on Wednesday

I think Bristol just might have Ithaca beat for most miserable weather in the world. (Note: I’ve heard Ithaca is having a lovely transformation away from the frigid hellscape (or something along those lines) that Jon Stewart so lovingly called it when he visited Cornell. Addendum to Note: We make fun of the weather, but don’t get me wrong, the Ithaca campus is still probably one of the nicest ones I’ve ever seen. Granted, my knowledge of college campuses is pretty limited, but most people agree, Ithaca is GORGES. Addendum to Addendum to Note: I need one of those t-shirts! If you’re coming to Cornell, or you’ve been here, ever, you know what I’m talking about.) Personally I think it’s the karmic weather monster getting back at me for rubbing in the fact that I missed that wonderful April Ithaca snowstorm.

I went swimming today, and I’m pretty sure I got more soaked walking home then actually swimming.

On the bright side, such dreary weather actually makes studying in a cozy library not that bad. Relatively of course.

The school newspaper I get here in the UK, the Epigram, had a cover story on how Bristol is using certain scholarships to “coerce” applicants into making the school their first choice.  (Which is different than the American first choice, FYI.)

Apparently, here in the UK this is controversial because giving out money eliminates the ability to make a decision based on personal preference since a stipulation of the scholarship is that the student must list Bristol as their first choice.

OK, this might be the grateful Cornellian in me who has been the recipient of scholarships, but since when has helping students been a bad thing?

Granted, the article points out Bristol’s tactics result in some of the scholarship funding to go untouched…but the real emphasis of the article is on how these “seductive scholarships…manipulated” students.

There is a huge culture difference between the US and England, and this is just one example.  I just can’t imagine there ever being a controversy in the USA based on scholarship manipulation of personal choice.  If you have an example of one such controversy, comment away.

But as I hinted at before the other reason I thought of this was because it reminded me of Cornell.  From my experience, I can honestly say that Cornell is pretty good about addressing the needs of students who actually have needs.  (And yes, I do mean it, and no, I’m not just being a PR machine spewing propaganda garbage.) Granted, I will admit that I’m basing this solely on Numero Uno, myself, so take my words with a grain of salt.

So I just get a little touchy when I hear that some Bristol scholarships are regarded as manipulative, even if the aforementioned recruitment tactics are slightly (very slightly) sketchy.  What happened to being thankful?

Because there are two sides to every story, I will admit that higher education funding is pretty different from the US, and I might be slightly biased.  But the article still serves to highlight some of the basic differences in thought between the two countries that you might not expect.

Been here for almost 4 months, and I still get surprises everyday.  It seems that when I finally figure out everything, it’ll be time for me to go home.

Slope Day, undeniably the biggest event at Cornell every year, transpired without me yesterday.

I did miss it, but not as much as I expected to.  In fact, I think I was a little glad to have a break from the frenetic partying that Slope Day inevitably brings.  I’ve been focusing too much on my future lately to worry about missing a party, no matter how good it may be.

Plus, I made a phone call to some of my friends in Ithaca yesterday, so I got a little taste of Slope Day 2007.

Besides, I have almost ONE MORE MONTH in the UK! Can you believe that time has flown by so fast? I don’t.  Every year I always say, “Wow, that year went by fast.”  And each year, they just go by faster.  Sigh.

With my one month looming, I have to periodically go from missing my friends and family back home to anticipating missing all the friends that I’ve made here.  Neither seem particularly appealing to me, but that’s what going abroad is all about.