Author Archives: Kay Wilson

Food, Glorious Food

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Mere moments before the Cafe with the Food and Branding Lab, we were all sitting in Rose House Dinner. Many of us knew that we would be going to the Cafe focused on food after dinner. We did not know that our actions at dinner would be the subject for the Cafe that followed.

At the Cafe, I learned why I eat what I eat. It apparently has very little to do with how hungry I am. Instead, I eat based on what is put in front of me. It seems kind of obvious, but it had not occurred to me before.

The three men at the Cafe told us all about the food branding trends they had researched. Many of those trends have manifested in my own life within the last day. These researchers predicted the composition of my plate without having seen it. All in all, I was left feeling that psychology is kind of amazing.

The most accurate study I heard at the Cafe involved the trends of Cornell students purchases over the course of the semester. Apparently, as the semester progresses, we buy more and more junk food. The peaks of junk food purchases happen right before Fall Break and during finals. This happens to correlate with when most students experience the highest levels of stress. Its good to know that I’m not the only one who is stress eating.

Overall, the Cafe was very interesting. I learned that my own behavior falls into some common trends. I also learned that there are ways to influence these trends, for good or evil.

Coming of Age

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When I signed up for this event, I was expecting a moderately enjoyable movie experience. I knew a little bit about the movie. It had been described to me as a coming of age story. That phrase has always rubbed me the wrong way. I think its because I associate coming of age stories with something that is not relatable to me. I think of a group of boys, growing up and learning to deal with problems that make no sense to me. Dope was not like that.

Instead, this movie depicted a group of teens that were struggling in a funny and relatable way. The first thing that I noticed was that there was actually a girl in their friend group. I know that this does not seem like a huge difference, but it was to me. Seeing a girl, especially a girl who likes girls, in a role that makes her story worth telling was so refreshing. That alone made the movie remarkable to me.

But Dope was a lot more than that. It highlighted issues of racism in higher education. It mentioned the ways in which people who do not fit in are asked to change themselves. It even showed the impact of socioeconomic status on outcome. Dope brought attention to so many important issues. On top of that, it was hilarious.

If Dope was a coming of age story, then maybe I need to give coming of age stories another chance.

Proud of Women

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Gender is made up and the points don’t matter. I’ve known this to be true for a while now. So when I found out that there was an event called Break the Box about gender, I had high expectations.

These expectations were maybe a little too high. I was absolutely pleased with the event as a whole, it just wasn’t what I was expecting.

In the context of the event, “break the box” refers to the characteristics that society tells us men and women should possess. The event was focused on talking about what gender roles are and why they are not always accurate. That is absolutely a conversation that needs to be had. But I was hoping to go beyond that.

To me, “break the box” means to break free of the constraints of gender all together. Gender is a social construct, and we can all let go of it if we choose to. I hoped for an event that focused on that. Maybe an event that highlighted non binary or non conforming gender identities.

Instead, the event started a few steps behind that thought. We never quite made it to that fact that gender is made up. The event was focused on the constraints society places on all of us to fit into one gender box. Once I accepted this, I was able to enjoy the event much more.

There was one activity that I found particularly interesting. We were all given the task of thinking about things that we were proud of our gender for. One of the moderators, who was a woman, talked about the difficulty she had had with this experience. She mentioned that the ways in which she was proud of women always revolved around there ability to do traditionally masculine things. I did not find this to be true in my own thinking.

I am proud of women for being nice to one another in the bathroom. I’m proud of the ease at which we lend each other things that we need. I’m proud of the fact that when I’m walking home at night and I hear someone behind me, I’m always relieved when I realize its another woman. I’m proud of the support women show for one another in the face of adversity. I’m proud of the ways women can relax around one another.

There are a million things I’m proud of women for.

I would have to go very far down on my list to find something that I was proud of women for doing “like men.” Maybe I just prefer traditional femininity to masculinity. Or maybe I don’t think that the only way to be successful is to be successful in the ways men traditionally are.

Either way, I’m glad I went to this event. I was able to talk about some important issues in a relatively safe space with my peers. I hope these conversations extend outside of the event for many of us.

Hip Hop Emerged

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Wow. I mean just wow.

That’s all I have to say about Rubble Kings. Thats the whole post. Thats everything that needs to be said.

I can try to describe my experience with Rubble Kings, but it is almost definitely going to fall flat.

Rubble Kings tells the story of the origins of hip hop. It documents the lives of individual people as they try to navigate the gang-filled environment of New York City in the 1970’s. It talks about the ways the poverty and drugs can create a culture of self-loathing that can rip a community apart. It describes how violence can fill the void left by failure of the system.

But it also shows a community coming back. Discovering ways to thrive after everyone has decided they aren’t worth saving. Banding together to fight against their own destruction. Being united through music and a desire to keep living.

From all the pain and loss that the Bronx suffered at the hands of gang violence, hip hop emerged. It knit a community together.

After the film, there was a discussion with the filmmaker and one of the subjects of the movie, Afrika Bambaataa.

During this discussion, we talked about the ways in which performance, like hip hop, can be used for social change. This is one of my favorite things to talk about. I think that the only way for a society to move forward is for people to actively work against the things they want to change. For me, performance is the perfect way to do this.

Rubble Kings was amazing. I walked in with some interest in hip hop. I walked out ready to inspire change in my community.

Documenting Life

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Question: What do domestic terrorism and selfie culture have in common?

Answer: Marshall Curry has made documentaries about them.

But my question was why? What about each of these things was so engrossing that a person could dedicate years of their life working to document it.

For Mr. Curry, it was all about curiosity and the unknown. He picked his subjects bases on what he didn’t understand. He wants to explore things in his work. Things that he might not have thought about before.

As a person, I think that is incredible. As a director, I think that that’s terrifying.

I have a little bit of experience with acting, writing, and directing. For me, directing is all about having an overarching vision and knowing where you want to end up. That is impossible in a documentary and it scares the life out of me.

After hearing from Mr. Curry, I tried to imagine for a moment what it would be like to direct a show with no script. No actors. No guaranteed action even. How would it work? How would I know what to watch? What is important and what is pointless?

I was quickly overwhelmed by this idea.

But then the panic passed. In its place was something else: Possibility. Suddenly everyone is an actor. Every plot matters. Every second is exciting and important. Making a documentary is like finding art in life. Sure, you need an artist to record it, but at its heart, its just people. Its the art in everyone’s story.

Regardless of this exciting revelation, I’ll probably never direct a documentary. But still, I appreciate the bravery and risk that goes into finding the art in everyone’s life. Marshall Curry’s discussion made documentaries real for me.

Students Save the Day

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Sexual assault is never easy to talk about. I was painfully aware of this as I approached the campus roundtable on sexual assault this past week. Nevertheless, its vitally important to talk about issues such as these to make our campus safer for everyone who lives here. I had very mixed feelings on the campus roundtable.

The roundtable began with a question and answer session from President Elizabeth Garrett. The questions were not all related to sexual assault at this point in the event. It was kind of interesting to see her interacting with students and answering questions. Despite that, I was underwhelmed by her responses.

One in particular stood out to me. A student asked about the growing financial difficulties many students face to go here. This is an issue that deeply resonates with me, as I’m sure it does with many students. President Garrett handled this question in what I believe was a very dismissive manner. She mentioned that tuition will never be going down and that most students graduate with what she  believes to be a manageable amount of debt. To me, this is an almost laughable sentiment. I bet debt looks a lot more manageable from her side of the desk than it does from mine.

Despite what I view as a less than tactful response, the question and answer session was still very interesting. I got to see our new president interacting with students in a way that I had not seen before.

After this portion of the event, President Garrett left and Vice President Ryan Lombardi was left to participate in the roundtable on campus sexual assault. President Garrett said before she left that even one instance of sexual assault on campus was too many. I couldn’t agree more. I do wonder though if even one question on sexual assault was to many for her to answer at the event.

The roundtable began with VP Lombardi explaining that since the administration was meeting every legal mandate for eliminating sexual assault, it was really up to the students to work to change the climate on campus. Again, the word “underwhelming” crept into my mind. After this explanation, VP Lombardi was silent for the rest of the event.

Luckily, the student activists of Cornell rallied to the occasion. There were countless suggestions on ways to make this campus safer. Individuals shared personal stories about their struggles. Shortcomings on the universities part were pointed out. Several people expressed ways  in which they were already working to improve the campus climate. The strong reaction on behalf of the students was by far my favorite part of the event.

I’m very glad I went to this event. As a student activist, I have a lot to learn from my peers. As a student leader, I grew a lot from their example. As a student, I feel a lot safer knowing that they’re working to make this campus better. Though the administration fell a little short of my hopes, my fellow Cornellians made the roundtable worthwhile.

What Did Peter Piper Pick?

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I. Hate. Peppers.

Or at least I did prior to the Pepper Party this Saturday.

You see, I’m not new to peppers. In fact, I would say that peppers and I are intimately acquainted. For five consecutive summers, peppers and I got to know each other in the sun soaked fields of a Pennsylvania farm. I’ve planted, picked, and peddled more peppers than I care to remember. Peter Piper has nothing on me.

Through all this time I’ve spent with peppers, I’ve never been particularly fond of them. They were always too hot for me. After a long day of pepper picking, its pretty likely that I have peppers in my eyes, nose and mouth. None of these are pleasant places to have peppers on a hot day.

As I approached the Pepper Party, I wasn’t exactly enthusiastic. I was thinking back to those long days of hot sun and hotter tongue. The dismal rain didn’t help either. But after walking through the botanical garden, I was pleasantly surprised.

We were greeted by the smell of peppers being roasted over open fires. Through the rain, we could see displays of dishes featuring peppers from around the world. Inside, we encountered samples of many different pepper filled delights.

If none of those things swayed my feelings for peppers, then the enthusiasm of the volunteers surely would have. These people knew more about peppers than I thought there was to know. I learned about capsaicin, the compound that makes peppers hot. Even more useful, I learned about the ways to cool down after tasting a particularly hot pepper. I now know always to keep dairy products on hand.

Overall, I loved the atmosphere of the Pepper Party. There were so many things to learn about and try. It was a great opportunity to see a part of Cornell that I hadn’t seen before. I was starting to think that peppers might not be so bad. That’s when I saw it.

Pepper. Flavored. Ice cream.

Where has this delicious treat been all my life? Why was anyone using peppers for anything else? How had I lived without this? Why wasn’t this mass produced for every grocery store in the world? Was I tasting the food of the gods?

My mind was slightly over come with the deliciousness I was experiencing. Suddenly, I forgave peppers for those long days spent in the sun. I forgave them for all the times my eyes burned and my tongue hurt. I even forgave them for how heavy a bushel of them was to carry. Pepper flavored ice cream made all of these things worth it.

I’m glad I went to the Pepper Party. It was time for peppers and I to bury the hatchet. Though I hope to never pick a pepper again, I might not mind tasting a few.

 

Pepper Ice Cream