On Monday night, I had the opportunity to join the Table Talk facilitated by GRF Ferra. The talk was about which playlist best defined our life and why. Ferra got this idea after listening to the NPR podcast Code Switch. During the discussion, we talked about Kanye West, and how his music should fit his personality. We went into deep thoughts of whether we should the music by what the singer has done throughout his life. We also talked about Micheal Jackson, and how his music reminds of our childhood. One student pointed out we should be blind by what singers have done throughout his life. When we listen to Micheal Jackson’s music, it reminds of our childhood. We don’t think about what he has done, but we enjoyed the moments of the music. I felt that this discussion has opened my eyes to something that I have never thought about. I have never thought to associate the music with the singer’s life, what I did in the past is just enjoying listening to their music. This table talk has given rise new perspectives that I should also learn more about the singer’s background while I am listening to their music.
Author Archives: bjl95
Securing the Vote: Protecting American Democracy
On Wednesday, I attended the presentation about the voting rights issue by Professor Absolabehere from Harvard and Professor Stewart from MIT. I was surprised that our right to vote has been jeopardized even though we are in a democracy country. Professor Stewart gave an example of the 2000 election in Florida, where many of the Americans’ votes were lost during the voting process. This issue of election frauds stands out to me because I thought the voting process in the United States has always been fair. This reminds me of the voting process in the country where I was brought up, Malaysia. During the 2014 election, there is a blackout during the vote-counting process. Some argue there was an attempt to vote tampering causing the national party to win the election. I felt disappointed because there are many cheating going on, and sometimes your right to vote doesn’t seem like it is your right anymore. However, Professor Steward and Professor Absolabehere gave me a new perspective of what we all can do to secure the vote. I learned that voting is important, as I have always taken it for granted. For the upcoming election, I will exercise my right to vote and expand it for others.
Prateek Kuhad Concert
For this Friday night, I have the opportunity to go to the concert featuring Prateek Kuhad. The concert is organized by Asha Cornell. Asha Cornell is a non-profit organization striving to promote education to underprivileged children in India. It is interesting to know that all of the money from the concert ticket is going to fund education in India. Although I have never heard to Prateek Kuhad, I really enjoy the concert. He has a good voice, and he plays guitar very well. I like how he combines both English songs and Indian songs throughout the concert. Hearing this music is very relaxing, and it is a good way for me to de-stress as well.
Pumpkin Carving
Signing up for this event, I thought I am the only person who is going to carve a pumpkin for the first time. I came in and confused about what to do. Why do we have to cut off the crown and scoop out the seeds? Then the person next to me explained the process. After a while, I am getting the hang of it and enjoy the process. I also meet new friends during this event, in which we have fun getting our hands dirty while scooping out the seeds. I thought it was unique that everyone has their own design, and it is incredible to see all the creativity in the room. Overall, I really have a lot of fun carving the pumpkin not only because I learn something new, but also I met new people in the community.
Wasted: The Story of Food Waste
On Wednesday, I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Frank Rossi, who is an associate professor at the Cornell Department of Horticulture. He is currently teaching a course called Just Food with Dr. Rachel Kerr. Dr Kerr is a world-class sociologist and is one of the authors of the IPCC Climate Change Report. During the talk, he talked about how the food system in the United States is out of balance. We do not need more land to produce food, what we need is to waste less food. He shared with us how the class got a chance to visit Appel Dining Hall on North Campus and learned about the food system on campus. It was surprising to hear that in the last three years, Cornell Dining reduced 80% of food waste on campus by simply removing the tray from the dining hall. The reason is that humans are greedy, we get more food than we think can finish when we have a big tray. I think this stood to me because even with only plates available in the dining hall nowadays, we still waste a lot of food. Dr. Rossi also mentioned there are also ‘waste police’ on-campus that weigh your food waste before you put in the dish belt. Last Tuesday, I actually saw there are students at Cook Dining hall conducting food waste study. I didn’t realize how important their role until Dr. Rossi explained it. After listening to this talk, I realized that the easiest way for students like us to help recover the food system is to reduce our food waste. Reducing food waste can save our food system, contributing to a more sustainable planet.
Science and Religion
For this Saturday’s dinner, we have the opportunity to meet Andy Crouch. He is a journalist with the evangelical magazine Christianity. My family and I rarely have conversations regarding this realm of matter. However, this table talk has made me realize how there is often a conflict between science and religion. It seems hard to be a person of religious faith and practice serious science at the same time. Catherine gave some insight into how one of her colleagues became a person of religious faith after diagnosed with cancer. Fortunately, her colleague survived fifteen more years while fighting with cancer. That is when she felt grateful for her life and starts to believe in God. However, at the same time, she is also a person who practices serious science, so she turned to Stephanie to seek advice on she finds a balance between science and religion. I find it interesting to learn how Stephanie acknowledges that the two institutions deal with different realm of human experience, but she finds a way to integrate both. Science investigates the natural world, while religion deals with the spiritual world — hence, the two can be complementary. This table talk has exposed me to the topic that I have rarely think about, and it propels me to challenge my presumption.
Dinner with Technical Program Manager
On Thursday night, we have the opportunity to chat with Tasnuva over dinner. She is the technical project manager in Alta Devices. She was brought up in Bangladesh, finished her high school in Bangladesh. Then, she moved to the UK for her college. She received her Master’s degree in Material Science from Cornell University. The biggest take-away for me is that communication is essential in our career life. She shared with us her story about how her job involves continuously talking to people. Although she is an introvert, she developed excellent communication skills over time. She also told us that it is okay to change job if we find ourself not learning anything new. She currently works as a startup in California, focusing on renewable energy. She used to be in a small company, and then she switched into a bigger company. Since she is working with international corporations, it is unlikely that she would have a 9 am to 5 pm schedule. Instead, her work hours are from 9 am -9 pm because 5 pm-9 pm is the most active time for Asian countries. She has to be call-in for a meeting to know what is going on. We talked about how the employee does not expect to be paid overtime because they are willing to do the work.
Overall, I am glad that I have learned a lot from her journey. She gave us a lot of advice regarding academic and career. The dinner is an excellent networking opportunity, and I look forward to joining another one.
Self Defense Realization
Even though this workshop focuses on stopping violence against women, I was surprised that I had learned a lot as a man. I always thought that our arm is the most important tool of self-defense because that is where we have the most strength. However, with self-defense, skill played a more critical role than strength. I was asked by Kyaw Thein to demonstrate this. Although I wrapped my arm around her as hard as I could, she can still skillfully escaped a body lock from me and gave me an attack, which I immediately fell on the ground.
This workshop has been a unique experience for me. I have realized that self-defense is regardless of gender. Anyone can learn some basic self-defense techniques to protect ourselves in dangerous situations.