Last week I had the pleasure of meeting and petting Dr. Avery’s dogs. I also attended VP Ryan Lombardi’s Rose Cafe Talk, which was very nearly as enjoyable. He began by introducing himself, with a brief vignette of well-deserved praise to our Dean Avery. Then he opened up a discussion on the Cornell experience, from the Thanksgiving break (we all agreed it should be a full week) to the insane pressure of being in higher education in today’s academic and political climate, to the overall culture on campus among students. It was such a comfort to speak with someone who understands how stressful it can be at an Ivy League institution, often far from home, with bad news pouring out of our devices at all hours.

At the end of the lecture, we the attending students were given three directives: first, Dr. Avery ordered us to go to sleep. Second, VP Lombardi encouraged to reach out to our faculty and staff on campus, whose aim is to support us. And finally, both Dr. Avery and Dr. Lombardi encouraged us to be culture-changers on campus and to just be a tiny bit more sociable, to make eye contact with passing strangers or to smile at our neighbors in the hallways of our dorm. These changes might not sound like very much, but if I can make even one person’s Cornell experience a bit better, it will be worth it.