27
August
2006
Greetings from Washington, DC! Life here is pretty awesome and busy, so I’ll do an update of all of the highlights of the past week.
I moved into the lovely Cornell in Washington (CIW) center last Sunday, conveniently located in the Dupont Circle area of DC. The neighborhood is really great with lots of stores, restaurants, and adorable little brownstones. The CIW center is very nice too; the first floor is dedicated to classrooms and administrative space. The upper three floors are apartments for Cornell students. Our apartment is really cute and the closet space is much bigger than expected (a key factor for any young professional woman).
We’ve had a lot of fun the past few days exploring the city. I’ve lived in suburbia all of my life, so it has been exciting residing in an urban environment. I went with Emily and Sarah, my two DC roommates who lived on my floor freshman year, on a fun shopping trip into Georgetown. We did an evening bus tour of all of the monuments and found out about tidbits of DC trivia and history from our guide; the city is beautiful at night. As well, we checked out one of my favorite places, the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Despite that limited exhibits are opened – the museum is closing for a two year renovation in September – we still checked out important sights like Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers, Lance Armstrong’s bike, and Julia Child’s kitchen.
Even though all of the students participating in CIW are from Cornell, I hadn’t met most of them before this week. Everyone is pretty friendly, and it kind of feels like freshman year again (class of 2010, I can relate!) We go out in big groups at night to movies and various other locations in the city, get semi lost on the Metro together, and generally have a good time. The staff here is great too, providing suggestions ranging from what subway to take to work to where the best running paths are around the city. One of the main factors that attracted me to CIW was the positive feedback I heard from other students who completed the program. Many students say their semester in DC is one of their favorite aspects of their Cornell career, and so far, I can see this proving true for me as well.
Posted: Fall 2006
23
August
2006
“I expect some new phases of life this summer, and shall try to get the honey from each moment.” – Lucy Stone
I spent the second half of my summer at home in Ohio as an intern. I had two internships this summer, one with a nonprofit called Jewish Family Service Association (JFSA) and the other working for the reelection campaign of my State Senator, Kevin Coughlin.
JFSA is a social service agency that provides programs to over 5,000 families – of all different faiths – every year. At JFSA, I worked in marketing, communications, and development. This internship was cool because I was able to write some articles for their publications (like on Russian cuisine . . . mmm mmm, serve up some more cow tongue) and do research for possible grants and funders. It is always amazing to me that organizations like JFSA are financially able to stay afloat because they offer so many different services to so many different people.
Working for the campaign was pretty cool too. I had the opportunity to help plan two press conferences, talk to constituents, and learn about local and state politics. Much of my time on the campaign was spent simply trying to inform constituents who Senator Coughlin is, his accomplishments, and what he is interested in achieving. I feel many people are apathetic to or disillusioned by politics, which I find disappointing. Senator Coughlin demonstrated to me first hand that there are politicians who actually care about their job and the people they represent. People are often quick to complain, but slow to consider how they might influence change. An easy way to do this is through active citizenship – and that starts with voting, but more importantly, informed voting.
With the remainder of my free time, I hung out with my friends and family. I got hooked on “Grey’s Anatomy” with my friend Alicia and had fun dinners with my friend Janice. The whole gang usually headed out to wing night on Tuesdays, a tradition since high school that is still always too filling. And my Mom and I were always running. Our marathon training has been intense, but hopefully it will pay off in the end. I helped my brother with college searching and applications and joked around with my Dad. All in all, I think it was a pretty busy and exciting summer.
Senator Coughlin
Posted: Summer 2006
18
August
2006
“We were like peas and carrots, Jenny and I.” -Forrest Gump
I spent the first half of my summer in Ithaca. Many people told me that spending a summer in Ithaca should be as much of a graduation requirement as passing the swim test (yes, for all of you prospectives, also a requirement for graduation – if you don’t know how to swim, no worries, you’ll learn!) After spending part of a summer at Cornell, if the administration did push for this requirment, I wouldn’t have a problem. Life in Ithaca throughout the month of June really made me realize why those “Ithaca is GORGES” shirts sell like hotcakes.
For one, the weather is wonderful. Cornell is really beautiful during any season in my opinion, but the summer was especially nice. I had a lot of fun exploring different parts of the campus, like the Cornell Plantations. I also had much more time to check out Ithaca. From the Ithaca Farmer’s Market, to concerts on the Commons, to potlucks and kickball on the Arts Quad, to movies outside on the Willard Straight terrace – there was never a dull moment.
This summer was the first time I lived on my own in an apartment, which was quite a fun adventure. I lived with Alex, who was one of my roommates from freshman year, and Soy, who is also a tour guide. It was pretty awesome. Alex and I would walk to work in the morning and sometimes eat dinner together while watching “So You Think You Can Dance” on channel 16. I’m about 99.99% sure this show will never be nominated for an Emmy, but Alex and I still enjoyed analyzing the overly dramatic personalities and actions of the dancers. And – in all honesty – channel 16 was the only one our old TV (which, by the way, I found in a closet when we moved into the apartment) picked up, so we couldn’t complain too much.
Soy and I spent our evenings checking out internships and writing cover letters. She is also headed to Cornell in Washington in the fall, so I’m pretty excited to continue our good times there. We would catch up on the day’s events from work at CIVR. Spending eight hours a day interacting with the visitors who come to campus and answering the random calls we always receive (”I just want to find someone who can teach old ladies how to hip hop” -A recent request . . .) always is fun, busy, and entertaining. My job at CIVR has introduced me to a lot of great people, as the staff tends to be very upbeat and excited about Cornell. I’ve made a lot of great friends at work, and it was tons of fun spending time with them in and outside of Day Hall, our department’s headquarters.
Many of my other friends were in Ithaca too, involved in a variety of opportunities. Some were taking classes, completing research, or just working. Even though I was at CIVR pretty much full time, my month of June was still very social and relaxing. I think most others would attest to similar experiences during a summer in Ithaca. It was hard saying goodbye to Cornell and all of the people I know there, as I will not be back on campus until January. And some of my friends are off campus in the spring or for a full year, so I won’t see them until senior year, which is crazy to me!
Bottom line – do at least part of a summer in Ithaca. Good food, fun, company, and a tan.
My friend Elana’s cake from our Flag Day Fiesta
Posted: Summer 2006
7
August
2006
“Why don’t you just open it for me . . . ” -Mom, when trying to give her the web address for my blog
I knew it was a bad sign when Mimi’s e-mail read, “Your Mom said that you’re getting a picture taken with Griffey. But she said she’d tell us what it was for later.” Mimi, my Grandmother, is the most electronically hip and tech savvy 73 year old around. She e-mails, she creates graphics, she makes cards, she surfs, she knows blogs – basically she understands everything about computers.
So, what “she’d tell us . . . later” meant, was my Mom didn’t really know why I was having my picture taken. She knew it was for a “blugg” or “bloog” or something like that, but she really didn’t know what that signified. My Mom, you see, inherited a number of Mimi’s wonderful characteristics, but she didn’t really get the “tech savvy” chromosone. However, when I told her I needed a prop for the picture, I asked her to brainstorm with me (she did). When Girffey became my “prop,” I asked her to get him ready for his trek up to Cornell with Dad (she did) and to make sure he would greet Cornell in style – with his Cornell doggy bandana (she did that too).
I tell this story for several reasons. First, it brings up the topic of blogging, which is clearly very relevant to this space. This is my first time blogging. So, much like my Mom, I may hit a few speed bumps along the merry blogging way. However, like my Mom, I hope to pursue this concept of a “blog” with the utmost dedication. I think this type of forum is a wonderful addition to the Cornell Community. I also hope it well serves prospective students and anyone else who may find themselves on this page.
Blogging is a great means of communication in that it is interactive. I mean, I could have a pretty nice soap box here – but you get to shoot your ideas and comments back at me – something that is not always so immediatley available or displayed in other types of exchange. There is instant gratification in this information age; I make a post, everyone can see it immediatley. This also means possible instant fallout. For example, if I accidentally left my account logged in and someone made the background a picture of me waking up at 5 am – I promise you, even Mimi may struggle to read this all.
This also suggests the question of content. The purpose of the Student Blogging Project is to help achieve Vice President Tommy Bruce’s goal of “telling the Cornell story.” When I told my Aunt Cathy about my blog, she asked, “So does that mean you’ll write about everything – like if you go on a date?” I’ll tell you all right now, my life is no National Enquirer cover story waiting to happen. However, I’ll promise you I’m going to be as honest, open, and interesting as possible. I’ll also try to answer any of your questions or respond to your comments. You too have a role in regards to the form this blog will take. I promise you misspellings – my Achilles’ heal since first grade – probably a few grammatical errors: but hopefully not too many, and some entertaining substance as well. I tend to be a pretty private person about certain aspects of my life, so some things you may just not know. But if I ever go on my dream date with one of the James Bonds (preferably with Sir Sean or Pierce Brosnan) I might fess up to it.
So that’s it. Ready, set, blog. My Mom said a few weeks ago, “I call you a blogger now . . . right?”
Yeah Mom, I guess that’s true.
Posted: Musings
