Author Archives: JLawl

Boxes

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This was second discussion based Rose Scholars event and it was hosted by a group of students who were taking IDP (Intergroup Dialogue Project). As a student taking IDP as well (in the Sexuality discussion however), I could see many aspects that reflected my own IDP group. Because of this, there were certainly parts where I was satisfied and dissatisfied about.

The issues we talked about were he stereotypes and expectations of the genders on either ends of the gender binary (ie. male and female). Because I am a person who enjoys listening to other people’s stories and experiences more so than to talk about my own, I was happy that there were students who enjoyed sharing.

Having gone to an all-girls school since the third grade, I feel that I did not experience as much of the gender socialization as many other students. Because all my classes had 100% girls, I never felt deterred from STEM field. In fact, I enjoyed STEM fields much more than I did with liberal arts. To me in high school, the notion that boys were encouraged to pursue STEM fields, while women, liberal arts, seemed like a myth to me.Hearing experiences of other students gave me a glimpse of what other students have gone through because of their gender.

Despite enjoying the discussion and the acceptance of other students who were attending, the workshop was not what I expected. When I heard of “Break the Box”, I thought that we would address and challenge the gender binary (ie. focus on the fact that gender is a spectrum, instead of a distinct binary). As a result, I had to spend the beginning of the discussion on readjusting my mindset. I feel that the discussion may have ignored those who are gender non-conforming. However, I do appreciate that a couple of the other students in the discussion did address this fact, making me feel like I was not the only one with that thought.

All in all, I wish that the even was longer so more topics about gender could have been covered.

Love at Cornell

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For this Saturday, I went to the How Do We Love event where we discussed just that: love. We started by reading the handout in pairs and discussing the question between ourselves, before moving to a group discussion.

I found that in the group discussion, it took a while for people to open up and be comfortable sharing. Because of this, I think it would have been more effective to spend shorter time on the individual discussion and more time on group discussion so we are able to feel more comfortable sharing in a large group setting. Because of time, it seemed as though that just when when the topic shifted to one people had something to say about, we were almost out of time.

The part of the conversation that struck out most to me then was the end of the discussion. At the end, we had to relate what we discussed to ourselves. At this point, the conversation shifted to love in the Cornell community. Many of us agreed that the atmosphere at Cornell was not a love-heavy environment for multiple reasons. First, was he focus on academics and extra-curricular activities seemed to take precedence or Cornell students (may not be the case of individual students, but for students as a whole). Thus, because relationships (platonic or romantic) obviously take time and effort, there is not any sort of focus on relationships. The second reason for the lack of love on campus is because of the hook-up culture in college. Because of the hook-up culture, while there are students who are trying to find a stable relationship, it is difficult to tell apart who wants a serious relationship versus those who do not.

This conversation definitely had me thinking about my own relations with my friend on campus and my family and whether I put in enough effort to show them I care. I am glad I went to the discussion because it was a very reflective session.

Masks as a Canvas

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Beginning the event by looking at various masks, we all gained some inspiration for our own masks when we moved to the studio. The process of creating my mask was mostly rethinking and re-evaluating my ideas. Originally, I planned on making a underwater, ocean-related mask. However, with little white acrylic available, I had to change my plan. There was white tempera paint which is a thinner, runnier paint which I mixed with yellow acrylic, making it slightly more opaque. Because of my fascination with dragons, I thought that it would be fitting to draw a dragon on my mask.

For this project, I essentially treated the mask as a canvas. As a post-idea, I decided to make the mask more face like by adding red and silver.

 

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Distinc.tt

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When I first sat down for dinner, all I knew about Michael Belkin was that he worked in Silicon Valley and was an activist for the LGBTQ community. Although I did not feel compelled to begin a start-up, I thought that as a computer science major and an ally, I thought I was obligated to attend this dinner talk.

From this dinner talk, what struck me the most was how business plans change overtime. At first, his app was targeted towards people in their early 20’s but after a course of events with Huffington Post publicizing the app as the first LGBTQ app 12 year old people can use. As a result, soon after, 12-17 year old people began to use the app. Thus, in an unplanned series of events, the app became targeted towards people in their mid-teens.

Another thing I took away from the dinner talk was the insight into dating in the LGBTQ community. As an ally, I enjoy learning and hearing about the experiences of other people (especially those that are much different than mine). Thus, when I heard about the difficult situations that teens posted about, I reflected on my own life. I never had to think about “coming out” to others or worry that someone I like would not interested in my people of my gender. I am glad that Michael Belkin made this app so that teens could gain support from others online.

Although at the end of the talk, I knew I still did not want to begin a start-up company, but overall, I did appreciate the dinner talk.

Taken for Granted

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Eating is something that people do everyday to stay healthy and nourished. The majority of people, however, do  not grow their own food. This could be for many of the reasons discussed yesterday: the work is tough and laborious, people may not see opportunity to grow and expand, there is the stigma of seeming “dirty” or “uneducated”. What was also surprising was that of the room of what seemed to be 30 people, only 5 people had any connection to agriculture (whether it be their major, they grew up on a farm, or even just worked on one). With such a small number of people in who have even a remote connection  with agriculture, who are the ones who are providing food on our tables? Well, it is improperly documented migrant workers whom we have to thank. One of the most memorable conversations from last night were the consequences of a potential wall being built along the American border. Because over half of the farmers on New York State are farmers who may face deportment, New York State agriculture would, without a doubt, face a heavy strain. Farmers would have to raise prices to sustain themselves, but there are laws that limit the prices of food. As a result, it would become even tougher to sustain a farm.

Although I always remind myself that people had to work hard for the food on my plate, I have never thought about agriculture as in depth as I did yesterday. Asides from the obvious obstacles such as inclement weather, and crop pests, other factors unrelated to the crops or weather can have strong effects on the agriculture industry, such as foreign policy.

The Gorge Life

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Having walked along Cascadilla Gorge multiple times in the past, I was expecting just another hike where we looked at the greenery around the Gorge. To my surprise,  large portion of the tour was about the rocks and the ever changing Gorge. Although changes are not noticeable as you walk along the trail, the gorge did not look like what it did 100 years ago.  I found it interesting how powerful water can be overtime, receding the waterfall line fractions of an inch every year until it is what it looks like today.

In my freshman year, the gorge was still barred off for the reconstruction of the trail.  However, I am thankful kful that the gorge trail reopened while I am still a student.

Developing my Abstract Appreciation

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Before dinner, I had the chance to see the art show in the dining hall where Nicholas Carbonaro answered questions about his works. In high school, I grew up taking art lessons where the teacher focused on technique and learning how to draw accurately with realistic proportions. Growing up, even paintings that were surreal was required to look realistic. Thus, at first I was slightly irked by the abstract style that Nicholas adopted: it was not a style I was used to. However, upon closer inspection of his works, I started to develop more appreciation for his style.

The first thing I noticed was his experimentation with different mediums and techniques. In one painting, he used paper maché and paint to create a very textured piece, a technique I had not thought of before. The paper maché created ridges along the canvas which he accented with black which the rest of the paper maché was painted purple.

The more surprising painting however was one where he used chili seed mixed with a clear paint as a medium. Evidently, this created a piece with a very textured and interesting background. Moreover, the colors he used very very bold, which is something that I am striving for in my own artwork. I find that I often and timid to have deep, intense, bold colors and often opt for more pastel or bright shades.

In the painting that incorporated chili seeds, Carbonaro also seemed to incorporate genderbending. This I definitely appreciated a lot. As someone who considers herself relatively liberal on gender issues, having a painting where the subject was not immediately identifiable as one of the gender binaries was nice surprise.