Author Archives: Anita On

What it Means to Serve in a Community

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On Thursday, I had a Engaged Cornell Dinner I felt so refreshed and rejuvenated. Despite having read Rachel Naomi Rechen’s “Helping, Fixing, and Serving” article before, the words jumped out and touched my heart in a new way. As I am continuing on my years at Cornell, becoming more involved in many things, it is SO important to remember why I am involved. Here are some things that I reflected upon:

  • It can feel draining to feel like you’re pulled in so many directions. However, remember that your goal is to serve and not help or fix. You are entering this community without assumptions and without the power dynamic that you are a “superior” Cornell student here to make their lives better. This way, unity is emphasized and there is mutual benefit from the relationship. No feeling drained because you are “helping” or “fixing”. Instead, be motivated that you get to be a part of these people’s (or this person’s) journey,
  • I felt saddened that I was learning about all the injustices of the world but couldn’t make a huge impact. In a discussion, my partner mentioned that he likes to think that even making a difference in one person’s life is significant. That uplifted me. In a lot of the things I am involved in, I work one-on-one or in smaller groups with people. I hope that in the same way that I can make an impact through as a Rose Service Scholar.

There’s a Bigger World Outside of Cornell

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Thursday was my first day volunteering at BJM! It was very grounding to remind myself that there’s an entire city outside of Cornell (flourishing with non-college students!). It also saddened me, however, when the two kids who I tutored, mentioned that they are used to interacting with many different college students (from other volunteers for A+, or with Best Buddies). Since they encounter so many college students, it may be hard for them to form a deep connection with one. Even if they do form a connection, however, the college student eventually graduates and leaves Ithaca, severing their ties with their mentee(s). I am reminded that Ithaca is a college town, and that anyone living or growing up in Ithaca will be influenced by college in some way. Will they be encouraged to go to college? Would they be sick of Ithaca and want to go to another place? What qualms do Ithacans have against college students here? I want to be reminded that outside of the bubble of Cornell, there is a much bigger world with so many more opportunities.

The Cinematography of Our Own Lives

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Introduction

My first event of this semester with HF Zachary Grobe and GRF Seema Singh really put into perspective of how I want to set the tone for this academic year. While I attended expecting only to learn about writing blog posts, we also ended up analyzing films to prepare us for writing reflective blog posts for when we attend Film Fridays. For our collaboration event, we were split into groups to analyze one of four elements of a well directed Subaru commercial: mise-en-scene (what we see), sound, cinematography, and editing. My group analyzed the cinematography of the film, and it led me to think about the importance of perspective-taking not only in film, but also in our own lives.

The Subaru Commercial

The camera slowly moves backwards, passively witnessing the narrator’s life story as it unfolds, but the tone of the commercial suddenly changes when the scene switches to a car crash at night. With tension and anticipation rising, the camera slowly pans to the side, and suddenly the perspective of the camera changes. Now we are in the car with the happy family, actively speeding towards the bright future ahead. This juxtaposition of the cinematography– from passively moving backwards, to actively speeding forward–made me wonder about how we frame our own lives. Are we passively witnessing everything that is happening to us, or are we actively engaged in how our life unfolds?

A Fish in The Stream

I often feel like I am a fish swimming along congested stream, unable to stop because everyone at Cornell is (and perhaps must) constantly move forward. Objectively, we are all students in a large University, in an interesting city, perhaps far away from home or right next door. However, we each have individual stories: our own eyes are our cameras, and we are witnessing the cinematic playing of our own lives. I think the beauty of being the director is that we can choose our scenes. Sometimes, we just want to sit back and let life go on for a moment without disturbing the moment. Other times, we will charge forward and really dive into the heart of the scene. Regardless, there’s no correct way of “directing” our own life. Only that there is, and we are, so it becomes. 

What do you think about using film cinematography as an analogy to perspective-taking in our own lives?