Why are these teeth that cause so much pain called wisdom teeth? I don’t feel I am gaining anything from this besides a sore mouth! I had to go home to Connecticut this week, after dealing with pain from impacted wisdom teeth for a while, for an emergency removal of all of my wisdom teeth. Although it was bad timing since the semester is wrapping up and finals are coming, I am very happy that I will be able to enjoy Slope Day and prepare for finals pain-free. My face has definitely looked like the Godfather’s for a few days, but I seem to be returning back to normal day by day. And now I won’t have to get them removed right before I leave for Cleveland which is a HUGE relief.

This coming week is the last week of the semester, and I could not be more excited. This semester has definitely been challenging, and I can’t wait to celebrate with my friends! Our Slope Day shirts came in while I was at home in CT, so I was happy to see them in person when I came back yesterday. This is definitely going to be a week to remember. A few good friends of mine will be coming back to campus for Slope Day so it will be nice to see everyone again! I keep telling myself I just have to get through a few more days… We can do this!!!

There is nothing I love more about each semester than when pre-enrollment rolls around! It is the time you get to feel excited about classes again after being in the same classes all semester and looking forward to the end. I spend a lot of time perfecting my schedule on Schedulizer or Chequerd, and looking up what requirements I have left to fill on my DUST Report. I always log in on the day pre-enrollment starts for me (you can find your enrollment dates on your Student Center) at the exact time it starts for me to make sure I get the classes and section times I want. I think this is actually a habit I picked up from freshmen year when I was a bio major because we were all competing for the same classes. With my major now I shouldn’t be so worried. But it always seems that every semester I am satisfied with my schedule until pre-enrollment ends for me. When it ends, for some reason, I always decide to completely redo my schedule and everything becomes clear and perfect after the fact. This is exactly what happened again this semester. Now I cannot go back and change my schedule. I will have to wait until August to make the changes. But at least now I know what I am doing and am satisfied with my new schedule for next semester. I am almost done with my graduation requirements and have only a few more classes to take for my major requirements so I am actually in good shape! I was getting worried about finishing my language requirement but it seems as though everything is falling into place with that as well. I am definitely looking forward to next semester!

P.S. I hope all of the admitted students have been enjoying their visits to Cornell! My Human Evolution class has been filled for the past couple of weeks with admitted students to the point where the people actually in the class don’t have seats! It is wonderful to see how many of you are here to feel things out and to see what peaks your interest! Welcome Class of 2017!

There comes a point in each semester, sometimes at several points, when a lull comes over the students. It is hard to explain, but it seems like we all feel it around the same times. Usually it comes upon us a week or so before certain breaks, and a few weeks before the end of each semester. The symptoms are: exhaustion, a “don’t care about anything” attitude, lack of focus, a lowering of class attendance, and a growing participation in the watching of Netflix and YouTube. There is no known cure, and it is pretty hard to snap yourself out of, but I think this time should be taken to enjoy time with your friends, taking adventures around Ithaca, enjoying the nightlife, and catching up on shows that you just can’t seem to keep track of before the lull comes. Honestly, this happens to all of us. I am in no way encouraging you, I am just saying that it will inevitably hit you. Instead of beating yourself up about it and talking to your friends about what a failure you are becoming, take this time in the lull to truly embrace your college experience. When you graduate from Cornell, you will never look back on your time here and say, “Man, I really should have gone to that specific lecture on that specific day but I missed it because I was too lazy to go,” but instead you will say, “Man, I had a great time at Moonie’s that weekend with my best friends!” Remember that academics are important, but relaxing a little bit and rewarding yourself for all of your hard work with having a good time is equally important. Everything in moderation!

It is around this time that students begin to count down the weeks until the end of the semester. Usually I’m all for it. Usually I am so exhausted that I cannot wait until the end. And actually I am really looking forward to this summer since I have something cool to do. But this semester, I am slightly dreading the countdown. Not because I want to stay or anything, but because this is the semester I will have to say goodbye to the people who have been my best friends since the Prefreshmen Summer Program the summer before our first semester here (2009). My friends are graduating and unfortunately I have befriended a group of people who live far away from me, so who knows when I will see them again?! This is extremely sad, but I am also extremely excited for them! Because I took time off I will be staying at Cornell for a few more semesters, but my friends will be starting their new life journeys into the real world. Sounds slightly scary, but even more exciting! I cannot wait to see all of the great things they accomplish in their first year out! If anyone reading right now is graduating, I wish you the absolute best! Keep us updated! And if anyone reading right now has friends that are graduating, we don’t have much time left until we will be out in the real world too, so we need to take this time to get our acts together and push through! Even though I won’t be able to stay for Senior Week or attend graduation, good luck Class of 2013! Do great things!

Hi guys! I know I wrote a post a little while ago about making summer plans, so I just wanted to see if there are any updates! What are you all doing for the summer? Feel free to comment and let me know!

As for me, I am attending Summer on the Cuyahoga. This is a program that Cornell participates in, as well as other schools, that involves getting an internship, attending networking events, and a mentoring relationship with a Cornell alum. The program is in Cleveland, Ohio and the premiss of a program like this is a lot of the young talent in Cleveland end up going to schools out of state and then do not return, so to offset this problem this program brings in new young talent from across the country and shows them the opportunities Cleveland has to offer with hope that the talent will return upon graduation to work more permanently. I am completely open to this and I am fortunate because Cleveland has many opportunities within the field of education. These internships are paid and housing is provided. It is an amazing experience for anyone who is interested!

I will be interning for I CAN SCHOOLS, a network of charter schools spreading from Cleveland outward. I will be working in the admissions department and will be actively recruiting students to these schools. I could not be more excited! The description of the role seemed to really fit my personality and goals nicely. So this summer while I am there I will make sure to continue blogging and let you all know what’s going on!

Again, please share your updates with me! If you are still actively searching for something to do this summer don’t worry, you will find something! Keep pushing and you will see the light at the end of the tunnel at some point.

Denice Cassaro is a name you get to know well on campus. Your inbox is flooded with emails from her, but you don’t know who she is and you just delete the emails. STOP IT!!! I cannot even begin to tell you how many organizations I have discovered and joined, how many open job positions I have found out about, and how many events I have gone to because of her emails.

At a large campus like we have here at Cornell, it is so important to get involved. When I finally decided that I wanted to focus on the field of education as a career path, I wondered about clubs I could join that were more focused on education rather than marketing like the ones I was already a part of. And guess where I saw new clubs to join? You got that right! Thanks to emails from Denice Cassaro, I found new clubs to join and have spent my extracurricular time getting hands-on experience that I will be able to put on my resume and develop skills that I can apply to future jobs.

This mysterious woman is a part of many inside jokes between Cornellians. Many do not know who she is and speculate a lot about her. I am proud to say that I have met Denice Cassaro one time and, yes, she is pretty awesome. So next time you see an email from her, try to read it before deleting it. You may find something in it that will make you happy you finally opened the email! And by the way, she is the Director for Community Center Programs. Visit her in Willard Straight Hall!

I currently live off-campus so I got one of the last time slots on the last possible day to choose housing for next year. Well, as of now, I am officially without housing. Awesome. The housing lottery can sometimes be even more stressful than prelims! I signed up for the wait list, but only about 10% of those on the wait list are awarded a room. I hope I am part of the 10%!

From Cornell Memes Facebook Page

Now for some advice… Incoming freshmen are set with housing, the only dilemma is choosing preferences. The only advice I can really give is read up on each dorm culture on North Campus and select the one that feels like it fits you best. If you do not get the one you were hoping for, you may be surprised how much you like the one you are assigned to. Make the best of it, no matter where you end up! Rising sophomores, the rush for West Campus is overwhelming. Try for it, but if you don’t get a room on West, living in a Collegetown dorm is not bad at all. I lived in Sheldon Court my sophomore year and loved the location. Rising Juniors, if you are on West already and want to stay then you are guaranteed to if you sign up during the time allotted. If you would like a change of scenery, again there is always Collegetown. There are also co-ops to check out, Program Houses on North, and you could also consider living off-campus. I can honestly say I have really enjoyed living in an apartment this year. I live in Campus Hill which is conveniently located adjacent to West Campus. I am still able to have a dining meal plan, cook if I want to, and feel like I am coming back to a home after class rather than feeling like I am still at school. I would highly suggest trying to live off-campus at least one time during your four years! As for rising Seniors, off-campus is a great option for your last hoorah, as well as co-ops, Program Houses, Collegetown, or West if you can find a room.

From Cornell Memes Facebook Page

It really is all about figuring out which lifestyle best matches your personality and your needs. I hope everyone had better luck with the housing lottery than I did! I will write about this again when I finally find out where I will be living. I actually was accepted into the Cornell in Washington program, along with fellow blogger David (check out his blog!), so I may not need housing after all. I am going to try and participate in the program next spring semester instead if I do not get into a study abroad program, but I will write about all of this in future posts.

If you have any scary housing stories of your own please share!

Before any break here at Cornell, there is always a period of extreme stress and anxiety. Yes, it is prelim time. If you aren’t a student here yet this term may not be familiar to you. It is what Cornell calls exams. We don’t just have a midterm and a final here, but instead have 2-3 prelims and a final and/or final paper. Super intense, I know. If you’re lucky the prelims will not be cumulative and just on new information. If you’re not so lucky… well Godspeed. More commonly for larger, freshman classes, like Gen. Chem. and such, the prelims are at 7pm. You know what this means right? Well yes, I guess more time to study, but I meant more time to wait and worry. At least that’s how I felt when I was a freshman. And then you get to take the long, cold walk of shame back home afterwards. Unless you think you did well of course, which if you’re like the rest of us no matter how well you did you always have a bit of doubt. I feel like we may be a lot harder on ourselves than the average American college student. But that’s the over-achiever mentality, what can I say?

But when you get your grade back and see the fruit of your efforts it is all worthwhile. And if you don’t do well at least you know how to study better for next time. Once you get to know the testing style of your class then you can study more efficiently. It is all a learning process mixed with genuine hard work. I can honestly say that Cornell really does build character. I would not be as independent, confident, and thick-skinned as I am now if I didn’t come to this institution. I am grateful to be one of the few that get chosen for this amazing ride. I hope you all remember that despite how stressed or tired we may feel on a daily basis, we have been given a great opportunity. Take full advantage of it!

The storm of prelims may come before the calm of Spring Break, but it will make the break all the more needed!

Toni Morrison, an award-winning author and Cornell alumna, graciously makes her way back to Cornell to speak to students as often as she can. Today was Reading the Writing: A Conversation Between Toni Morrison and Claudia Brodsky. I can honestly say that it was one of the single best experiences I have had in my life thus far. Her intelligence, her wit, and the magic the room felt while she read passages from her book Home… I had goosebumps!

Claudia Brodsky had several questions for Ms. Morrison about her writing and things she has said in past speeches and it was a true privilege to hear her thoughts on her own literature as well as the literary world in general. She also shared some of her views on racial identity which were so raw and blunt but fully realistic. The way she talked about the characters she has created was as if they had taken on a life of their own and taught her things as the author while she was writing. It makes me really want to take the time to read more of her books. Can you say summer reading project?! I think so. She admitted that she is currently working on another book, but she could not disclose any details.

Just knowing that she was once in our shoes, even writing her first book right in Syracuse, is so inspiring. It is my dream to one day write a book, but I could only hope that it will be half as brilliant as the books she has written. I feel so fortunate to be a student at a school that brings people of this stature to come and speak to us. What an evening!

I don’t believe it’s a myth. I think the freshman 15 is very real. Those that can counteract its effects, fantastic! But those who didn’t, like me, don’t feel too bad. It’s already done so all we can do now is take responsibility for it, move on and stop being so hard on ourselves, and start working to fix it.

I have not been thin since I went through puberty in the 4th grade, but I never expected to gain more weight after coming to college. My weight gain happened gradually, not all in freshman year, but when I realized how much I packed on I was horrified! My body distributes weight very proportionately so I didn’t quite see a dramatic difference quickly. I started feeling pretty sluggish, but I have a real thing for french fries and fried chicken so I ignored how I was feeling for a while. Let me tell you, if you are not at Cornell yet, Cornell Dining is pretty amazing compared to other schools’ food. There are so many options, including healthy options, and it really is up to you to make the right choices.

When I took a leave of exploration from Cornell, I decided to go on Weight Watchers the summer before returning to campus. It worked wonders! I lost 20 lbs. easily. I stopped Weight Watchers when I came back to campus and picked up the bad eating habits again. I gained the 20 lbs. back faster than I originally lost it. Recently I have been feeling sluggish again and I could be in much better health. I am a big stress eater so Cornell’s environment just makes it worse. I have decided that I need to take care of myself and do something about this so I have gone back on Weight Watchers. My weigh-in days are Tuesday so after this Tuesday coming I will be starting my 3rd week on Weight Watchers. I lost 3 lbs in the first week and so far have lost another 1.5 lbs this week. I have been exercising, trying to do at least 30 min a day, and I have started feeling better and better. The mind is a powerful thing and you can do whatever you set your mind to, seriously. If you are facing a similar problem to me, believe me, take matters into your own hands right now! Start with me! You don’t have to be on Weight Watchers to lose weight, I just need it for discipline purposes. Cornell has a wide variety of great PE classes to help you jump start your fitness routine and if you have a gym pass, like I do, the group fitness classes are really fun! Remember to exercise in a way that you are having fun.

Also, it is important to take care of your mental health while you are here. Take a little bit of time every day for yourself to relax, meditate, watch an episode of a TV show that makes you laugh, spend time with your friends, talk to your mom and dad on the phone; whatever makes you smile! It can get so stressful here, and I am guilty of being overwhelmed by it all too. There is a life after Cornell, so let’s start remembering to take care of ourselves while we are here!

If you have a history of heart disease, high blood pressure and/or cholesterol, have asthma, or anything else like these, please consult with your doctor before starting a new fitness routine. Stay motivated!

Feel free to share your stories with me, your favorite exercises and/or recipes… anything!