When I began to hear Professor Schwarz talk I thought to myself “is this really useful to me?, I have already missed out on an entire year of things I was supposed to be doing.” As I sat listening, I soon realized that what he was saying was extremely important. I think that as Cornellians we forget what is really important in life and subconsciously substitute work for fun. We need to remember to live, to make mistakes and learn from them and to take risks in our life. Taking a class that seems like something we never would have approached before might lead us to discover a subject that we find truly fascinating. What I took away from this talk was that having fun and giving myself time to last is what will make my years here at Cornell so memorable and important 20 years down the road. No one wants to look back at their college years and think “Wow, all I really did was work.” Professor Schwarz really emphasized this especially encouraging us to take an economics course or to become really dedicated in one or two activities. These are supposed to be some of the best years of our lives and Professor Schwarz explained exactly how to make them memorable.

Going forward, I think I will be more conscious of the choices I make in choosing classes, joining clubs and even at my job. The idea of having fun really resonated with me. I think I forgot that while I am here, I am also supposed to have fun. I think that this talk had a great deal of meaning for everyone, regardless of what year they are and I am truly glad that I attended it.