Author Archives: kv253

Transfer Talk

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At this talk, we discussed transferring to Cornell and how the experience had been treating us so far. As a Junior transfer student, I quickly noticed that I was one of the very few. All the transfer students that I had met were Sophomores and it made me increasingly worried when I realized I didn’t have much time left compared to my friends. However, at this talk, we were able to hear from SA Andrew who was also a junior transfer last year. Hearing about his experience with adjusting academically and socially made me feel more at ease about my transfer process. He assured us that the competitive spirit at Cornell will always be present, but we will quickly learn to manage all aspects of the school.

In addition to this, we were able to hear from Dr. Hill about his opinion on everything from academics to extracurricular activities and strategic networking. He provided the perspective of a potential employer or admissions officer and explained that a perfect GPA and extracurricular is not always the most important part. He shared that he was never a straight-A student, but what he excelled at was his ability to create meaningful relationships and how that ultimately catapulted his career in academia into the direction he wanted. This talk made me realign my priorities and ever since I had made sure to remain conscious of what I need to do to reach my goals.

Fun winter activity!

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Last week I had the pleasure of going ice skating with fellow Rose scholars! I was excited when I learned about this opportunity because I haven’t been as physically active as I would have liked this semester (besides walking up and down the slope).  I hadn’t gone ice skating in years, so stepping onto the ice was a bit tricky at first. However, after a couple minutes of warming up muscle memory kicked in and I was able to let go of the wall and have a good time with friends. I was with a friend who was visiting from UNC Chapel Hill and he was impressed by how many fun things there were to do on actual campus. I wasn’t aware that the skating rink had special nights were students could go ice skating so I took a note of that in case my friends and I are looking for something to do next semester. There are so many things that Cornell offers that students don’t know about and I have a feeling the ice rink would be even more packed if more people knew about it! Overall, I’m glad I went skating and got my mind off of the daunting thought of finals.

Immunotherapy Talk

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Last week, I had the opportunity to sit down with Rose house GRF Shiv and talk about Immunotherapy. Shiv is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering, once done at Cornell, he plans to attend medical school and go on to become an oncologist. Shiv spends the majority of his time in the Immunotherapy and Cell Engineering lab on campus where he conducts an array of different research involving cancer cells and treatments.

Since he has such extensive knowledge of cancer, he was able to explain to us how it works and how immunotherapy could help. Though everyone knows what cancer is, only a small percentage can explain what it is and why it is so dangerous to our bodies. He was able to explain it in a way that made sense to everyone: imagine that all the cells in your body have blue shirts on. Normally, when a cell with a red shirt on comes in, all the blue shirts know that that’s an “outsider” and automatically build up defenses to get it out as soon as possible. However, with cancer, it’s not that evident. The cancer cells are only wearing a slightly tinted blue shirt which doesn’t raise such a red flag for the cells automatically to fight back on. Essentially, your own body tricks itself into not being able to tell the difference between a good and bad cell.

As we know, there has been extensive research into medical treatments and procedures that could be the cure for cancer. However, instead of looking elsewhere for treatment, Immunotherapy goes straight to the source of the problem: our bodies. Essentially, Immunotherapy boosts the defenses in our body to fight off cancer cells by using substances that our body already makes to restore immune function. Immunotherapy is still relatively new and extremely expensive, however, many scientists and doctors believe this is a large step in the right direction in cancer treatment.

Optimizing Online Presence

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Yesterday night I attended a workshop about creating an online persona hosted by GRF Sam. This was an awesome session because we learned about factors that could be crucial to our professional success. We talked about how managing our privacy on Facebook could be crucial because often times friends can tag you in posts that you don’t necessarily want potential employers to see. Facebook allows extensive opportunities for managing privacy, and if you navigate that correctly it can definitely help out when potential employers are searching for you online. We also talked about the possibility of creating a personal website. This is something I have always wanted to do and we were able to view some examples and talk about what content would be appropriate to post on a personal website.

The best part of the session was constructing potential bios that we could use on our platforms. We practiced varying size and structure depending on what platform it is. For example, Twitter bios are usually short and witty while LinkedIn bios can be long and detailed about your interests and previous experience that is relevant to future positions. We were able to share our bios and get critique from other attendees and Sam (as a graduate student in English, it was extremely helpful.) Overall, I’m so happy I attended this productive session!

Let’s Talk about STRESS

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On Tuesday I attended a table talk about stress during dinner at Rose house dining (delicious, always.) The word “stress” is thrown around on a daily basis here at Cornell, so I feel that the strength of the word has been significantly watered down. In my opinion, stress should not be a normal condition for anyone, and I make a conscious effort to not let it sneak itself into my consciousness every day.

The talk was refreshing because we didn’t focus much on actual stress, but rather ways we individually combat it. Some people mentioned they enjoy going for walks and some said they just need to turn the TV on for a distraction. It was interesting to see that across a span of majors ranging from plant biology to economics, we all share the same sentiments about academics, competition, and prelims. Another topic that was brought up in relation to stress was the competitive atmosphere of pretty much anything at Cornell. Even joining a club requires resume perfecting, interviewing, and evaluations. Because of this, we find that even fun outlets like clubs can create a unique form of stress. I think as an institution we can do better in creating environments that don’t require prerequisites or previous experience to get involved. If the goal is to have fun, everyone should be welcome!

What Is Love?

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On Saturday I attended a Rose event that revolved around love and dating. To begin, there was a way larger turnout than I expected. I feel that people, especially students at Cornell, have a hard time talking about subjects like love because there is no correct answer. There was definitely awkward silences when the conversation first started out but after a few jokes were cracked, it started getting more comfortable. We discussed what the dating and hook up culture is like here at Cornell. As a transfer student, I was interested in this topic because it’s not something I had heard anyone talk about yet. Other students were able to explain that most students here feel that there is not enough time for intimate relationships. I can understand this because I have already been able to experience what it means to have a completely packed schedule from the early morning to the late night and it is just the first month here. I can see how having a significant other would be difficult to juggle. However, I think that there needs to be a happy medium between school work and nurturing personal relationships (which I will make sure to keep in mind throughout my team here.)

Overall, I enjoyed this event because we were able to get a couple good laughs in while talking about one of my favorite topics! I hope there is a second installation of this event or a similar topic soon.

A Saturday Done Right

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As a transfer student coming all the way from Miami, Florida (yep, you read that right), I spent months mentally preparing myself for a huge lifestyle change. I had done extensive research about Cornell and Ithaca at large so finally being on campus almost felt surreal. After becoming a Rose Scholar, I was excited to be able to try everything Ithaca had to offer, especially with fellow students in the Rose community. After first hearing about this event I was excited about this opportunity because I had never attended a farmers market before. Not only would I be seeing a farmers market for the first time, but I would be seeing one that is considered to be one of the best markets in the whole state of New York.

I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of vendors and variety of products that were featured at the market. One of the first stations that I saw featured a Cuban food vendor. I’m Cuban so seeing this stand instantly made my day and after tasting the delicious sandwich I ordered, I felt like I was right back home. Seeing hundreds of people walking around with their family and friends and sitting by the water enjoying the delicious food while listening to live music was a wonderful way to spend a Saturday afternoon. I was especially excited when I learned that the farmers market is a frequent event that we could attend on the weekends. I’m grateful that I was able to experience one of Ithaca’s greatest features so early on in my time here and I’m looking forward to learning more about Ithaca’s unique culture.