I attended the movie night and watched Zootopia for the first time. This movie is a kid friendly movie but also touches upon many of the issues our society faces currently. I related the storyline to how African Americans are treated in this country. They are viewed as dangerous and vicious just like the predator animals in the movie. In reality, they are nice wholesome people. It is good t5o teach kids at a young age how to not pass judgement on people just because of the way they look. This was by far my favorite animated film along with Ratatouille of course.
Author Archives: Tyler Dixon
First Time Seeing a Silent Film
Tonight I had the honor of seeing the work of Donald Sosin. He combines both music and film to create masterpieces. It was my first time not only visiting Cornell Cinema, but also seeing a silent film. It was clear that he was loved by the Ithaca community because a lot of people attended the event. Initially I was unaware of this but the film catered heavily to the Jewish community. Therefore, I got the opportunity to learn a lot about Jewish culture and instruments. Mr. Sosin even brought some instruments for the crowd to interact with. I was also moved by the violinist who performed as well because I play the viola. I really enjoy seeing live musical performances because it always moves me to continue practicing my instrument. Being busy at Cornell can sometimes cause students to lose interest in their hobbies. Luckily, this event inspired me to continue mine.
A Painting a Day …
Last Saturday, I attended the Sip and Paint event here at Rose House. I was so excited to take a moment to relax and be creative. I had no idea what to paint but I knew I wanted to use different shades of blue. I went with something simple – a flower. I realized after painting how relaxing it was to take my mind off of the hard course load here at Cornell University. I experienced the same relaxation I had during the Gourd Night Light Event. I then realized that I should start painting frequently as a stress reliever. Attending this school can cause some people to lose their creativeness. I hope to gain my back.
Time to Relax.
After an extremely stressful week of classes, I got to turn a Gourd into a nightlight. I did not know what a gourd was before this workshop but it is similar to wood. As you can see on the photo, I got to drill tiny wholes into the gourd to make a picture. Due to my passion for music, I did a treble clef and some hearts. This is experience was so memorable because it allowed me to be creative and take a load of from thinking about school work. I hope that this event becomes a Rose House tradition because I really enjoyed it! Events like this are what makes being a Rose Scholar special.
An Unforgettable Conversation
On Monday, I had the opportunity to attend the Table Talk centered around the Childish Gambino music video called “This is America”. When I arrived, it was only me and Lory (GRF) who attended. At first, I thought “what could we possibly talk about for this long”. However, by the end of the meeting, I felt like our conversation could have lasted forever. Having the opportunity to speak with another black woman on campus one-on-one was extremely refreshing because it gave me the opportunity to be vulnerable and open up about my experiences here at Cornell University. It may have been my most valuable conversation thus far in the academic school year. I am happy that I can now go to Lory when I need someone to talk to. These are the interactions I cherish the most.
Be Sure to Make a Brand for Yourself
I recently attended the Branding event in the Rose Seminar Room. I learned so many new things about how to present myself to potential employers. One of the most helpful tips was to keep my LinkedIn updated. The spokesperson stressed how important this was because so many opportunities are posted on there. It is also important to ask people you meet. For example, if you go to a table at the career fair and meet one of the employees for that company, ask them to connect with you on LinkedIn. This will allow the company to remember you and realize that you are actually interested.
Another helpful thing I learned is that you can create your own website and share the url with employers via your resume. Unfortunately, I am not very knowledgeable on coding but if I was, I would be sure to do this.
Professional Stalking?
This week I attended the Email Etiquette 101 event. I found this event extremely useful because I never knew what “professional stalking” was. Never have I ever done research on a person before emailing them or having an interview with them. I learned that it is important to do your research on a person because it sh0ws that you are genuinely interested in building a professional relationship with them. It also shows the professor or interviewer that you two share common interests. Google Scholar and Research Gate are resources that can be used to find out what a scholar has done research on or what books/journals they have written. I will most definitely be using these resources in the future to prove to someone that I have done my homework.
What If?
After viewing the film called Ex Machina, my mind has been questioning many things. The movie blurs the lines between humanity and technology. As our world becomes more technologically advanced, I wonder if an event similar to the movie could occur in the near future. I wonder how it was possible for Caleb to become attracted to Ava while knowing she was a robot. She also looked electronic on the outside. The fact that Caleb could cause Ava to feel true emotions is confusing to me also. How can real emotion be built into an artificial human or robot? How can I robot know how to feel at certain moments?
This move reminded me of the film I, Robot starring Will Smith. In that movie, robots whose bodies looked similar to Ava’s took over the world. I just hope that an event such as these do not occur in my lifetime. Even though technology is great, there should always be boundaries between technology and humanity. When people began to morph the two together, bad things could possibly occur. People were shocked when Sophia the Robot was declared a citizen by Saudi Arabia because she could carry conversations and show emotions just like a real human being. Although these creations are amazing, there has to be a downside to them.