Author Archives: kch226

Closing Remarks

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Last week we had our final Rose Scholars event where we discussed logistics on continued occupancy and reflected on the fall semester. I liked this event because I got to meet more of the Rose Scholars as I had never met most of them before–it’s nice that we have such a strong community within our own dorm. I sat at a table with other Rose Service Scholars. As a volunteer at BJM, it was interesting to hear about what the volunteers at the animal shelter did. In addition, we did an exercise where we wrote down why we became a Rose Scholar and got to the core value that motivated our decision to join by answer nine “why” questions. I thought this exercise was interesting, and it was a fun way to get acquainted with other students as well.

Overall, I had a great semester in Rose as a Rose Scholar and volunteer. I liked my opportunity to tutor elementary school students and I liked engaging in Rose events to learn about new topics and meet other students. It was fun that we got to choose which events we wanted to attend based on our own interests. Thanks for a great semester!

Last Day of Tutoring

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Last Tuesday marked my last day of tutoring at BJM. I helped the student I normally tutor in math, and he was frustrated with having to do his multiplication, but he eventually got through it and I was impressed with his motivation. When he finished, he joined the other students who had finished their homework, who amused themselves with card games and scaring one another. It was fun to play with them and I’ll definitely miss them! It was great watching them grow even over the course of just a few months. At the beginning of the semester, they were working on subtraction problems and had trouble staying focused on their work. By the last day of tutoring, they were doing long multiplication problems and were motivated to get their work done so they could play. I am glad to have had this experience at BJM this semester.

Math Tutoring

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Today at BJM I helped a few fifth grade students with their math homework. They were learning how to round, so I had them practice counting by tens and explained how they would round up or down to a multiple of ten based on which was closer to the number they were given. They were brand-new at the concept but learned quickly, and the practice problems on their homework definitely helped.

This week at BJM was fun since I worked with students I hadn’t previously met before and I was impressed with their desire to help one another. One of the fifth graders, after having completed her homework, stepped in when I was helping another student with her homework and said she wanted to help her instead of me. These students were very motivated to get their work done and I was impressed by their ability to focus on their schoolwork despite their loud surroundings.

Conversations About Music and Art

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Last night I attended a Table Talk on a “Playlist of Life” where we were to discuss the music we listen to and how and why it is meaningful to us. The beginning of the discussion yielded some interesting perspectives on music. GRF Ferra explained how the music she listens to makes her feel connected to her Jamaican culture and to her family, and another student mentioned that she likes to listen to artists’ interviews about their music to understand the inspiration behind the songs that they create. Both of these perspectives on music were new to me, and I was impressed by the level of meaning that music brings to people in such a variety of ways as, personally, I like to listen to music seasonally; there are certain songs I listen to regularly for each season of the year. It’s interesting to me how we all have such different connections to music with such diverse and unique perceptions of its meaning.

The conversation then turned into an enthralling debate about art in general, and whether or not it makes sense to separate an artist from his or her art. For instance, some expressed that they could not listen to Chris Brown because of the abusive things he has done in the past and the way he continues to enjoy high levels of popularity nonetheless. We heavily discussed Kanye West’s new gothic rap album and whether or not he as an artist can be taken seriously. We conversed about Michael Jackson, and how despite some of the wrong things he has done, some of us grew up on his music, which adds personal meaning to his songs for many of us. The conversation moved towards other artists and academics, such as how a renowned philosopher was a Nazi, and whether or not that means we shouldn’t continue to study and admire his work. All in all, this Table Talk was certainly an interesting one, and I enjoyed listening to people’s different perspectives on music and art.

Attitudes Toward Voting Access and Logistics and Why I Won’t Take My Right to Vote for Granted

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With the upcoming presidential elections being a highly prevalent topic in today’s current events, Professor Stewart of MIT and Professor Ansolabehere of Harvard gave a talk Wednesday evening on the effectiveness of the ballot system as well as discrepancies in voter turnout geographically and by socioeconomic status. Their goal was to discuss the importance of “securing the vote” in the upcoming 2020 presidential election, and they provided interdisciplinary research to explain the flaws in America’s voting system.

Professor Stewart spoke first on the effectiveness of the ballot system. He described the different methods utilized by different states to cast ballots (e.g., paper ballots, electronic voting systems, etc.) and explained the pros and cons to both. In the past, several million ballots in major elections were lost, and he detailed the research that a team of MIT political scientists, engineers, economists, and other professionals found in order to increase the efficiency and efficacy of the voting system in America so that more individuals are represented by their cast votes with reductions in error. Professor Ansolabehere spoke next on the geographic and socioeconomic inequalities that result in inconsistent voter turnout across the nation. He outlined the role of redistricting and gerrymandering in voter turnout as well as public access to the vote. With current voter identification laws, he described how areas with greater poverty levels generally have lower voter turnout, as many individuals of the lower class tend to have less access to voter registration, which inhibits their ability to vote.

Overall, I thought this talk was very interesting, as political discussions in which I’ve previously been involved have not touched upon the logistics of ballot security, election fraud, or access to the vote. As a part of a democratic system, I consciously do not take my right to vote for granted and I make every effort to get out and vote during elections. When I think about these rights of mine, I think about the social progress that we as a nation have made over the years that have allowed more people to vote by expanding the pool of eligibility to 18 year olds, women, and people of all races and ethnicities. I have not, however, considered my right to vote as a privilege in terms of my access to the vote or the underlying logistics that allow me the ability to vote to begin with. This talk has certainly provided me with a new perspective on what it means to have the right to vote.

Volunteering at BJM

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Yesterday I volunteered at the elementary school (BJM). Yesterday’s experience was somewhat different from previous ones since the students didn’t have as much homework as they typically do. I normally help the same two boys with their math work. One of them is fairly motivated to get his homework done while the other needs some extra inspiration at times. This week, the student who usually gets his work done quickly had already finished his math before I had even arrived at the school, and was reading a book about farming. The other student was more patient this time with his work than usual, and he was able to finish his math faster than normal as well. I think he had a good understanding of the concept he was working with and he was less distracted by other students nearby. After he completed his math, I moved on to play Uno with a group of girls. I lost terribly, but we had fun making up new rules to the game and playing with multiple decks at once. The two boys whom I was tutoring before joined us later. Overall, this visit to BJM was a productive and fun one, and I enjoyed helping the students with their work and playing games with them as well.

Workshop for Working with Kids

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As a service scholar, I volunteer periodically at the Beverly J. Elementary school where I tutor fourth and fifth graders on their homework. As part of my commitment to being a service scholar, I was to complete a mandatory orientation session that would prepare me to work with these young students. However, my orientation session was unexpectedly canceled. Luckily, I was a member of REACH in the past, a club that also is dedicated to volunteering at the local Ithaca schools. I also had to take a training session for this club, and Jeff was kind enough to let me blog about that experience.

For REACH, my training was all about how to deal with kids and the course specified rules around the volunteer work that we would be doing. For instance, it discussed how we aren’t to be alone with a student while volunteering, and that we are to report to school faculty if we are unable to manage any poor behavior or if we think a child is acting dangerously. Of course, as I’ve been already volunteering at the elementary school, such behavior has not become an issue for me and all of the students have been delightful to tutor. Much of the information offered by the orientation session seemed much like common sense, but it was good to get some insight into the type of work I’d be doing at the schools before beginning volunteer work.

Conversations About Impeachment

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On Monday I attended a Table Talk about impeachment. We covered a variety of questions and points about the topic, including what impeachment is to begin with; what counts as “impeachable behavior”; why Speaker Pelosi has been putting off efforts to impeach President Trump; the role of impeachment in current events; and more. I really enjoyed this Table Talk since I didn’t have a clear understanding of impeachment and its role in today’s news before attending the discussion; even though we had discussed the matter in a couple of my classes, I was still generally confused about the topic and it was helpful to have a conversation about it with a smaller group of people, and it was even more helpful to be able to ask questions about it. After attending the Table Talk, I felt like I had a better understanding of the impeachment investigations of President Trump for his phone call with the Ukrainian President regarding the Bidens, and I better understood Speaker Pelosi’s role and apprehension regarding the impeachment process.

Furthermore, in our discussion of “impeachable behavior”, we touched upon whether such behavior had to be illegal behavior or simply immoral behavior. We concluded that impeachable behavior does not necessarily need to be illegal behavior, and we further delved into the ethics of what could be deemed impeachable or not. For instance, we considered whether President’s Trump’s tweets threatening to declare nuclear war against North Korea could be an impeachable act, and we pondered how this type of behavior compares with President Trump’s recent phone call with the Ukrainian President in terms of qualifying as impeachable. Overall, I found this Table Talk to be informative and intriguing, and I’m grateful that I now have a better understanding of impeachment and its role in today’s current events.

Volunteering at BJM

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This week at BJM I tutored two fourth graders with their math homework and reading assignments. They were excited to work together on their math homework, and they worked on addition and subtraction word problems. I was impressed with the level of math they were working on, as some of the word problems were fairly tricky. One of the students completed his work fairly quickly and moved on to his reading. He read a book about great white sharks and asked me questions about vocabulary words highlighted in the book. He seemed excited about the subject of sharks, and shared some interesting facts with me about them, such as how great white sharks supposedly have over 3,000 teeth. The other student I worked with was far more focused on gym class that would follow the completion of his homework. He was energetic and seemed to get distracted by the surrounding noise in the library, but we were able to work through his math problems together such that he got his homework done in time for gym. Both students seemed passionate. They were excited to get to gym class and although one student had greater focus when it came to getting his work done, I was impressed by the work of both of them and I enjoyed tutoring them.

Thoughts on Careers

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This evening I attended the Rose Cafe event featuring Julia Felippe, a professor in the vet school. Professor Felippe provided a background of her life and education in Brazil before relocating to the U.S. to pursue research in clinical science. She spoke about her love for horses that she acquired from the age of five, and she later explained how she performs surgeries on them. Professor Felippe’s talk was informative and interesting, and it was certainly inspiring as well.

Something I personally struggle with here at Cornell is the intense culture around professionalism. Since the very beginning of the semester, I’ve been attending career fairs, going through recruitment processes for pre-professional clubs, and have been constantly networking, interviewing, and writing applications. Not to say that these things are bad; in fact, I feel like I’m gaining a lot of practice in these areas! They do make it easy to compare myself to others, however, and I have felt a lot of pressure to figure out what I want to pursue for my career. Professor Felippe put my thoughts at ease a little as she advised us not to narrow our career options too much, explaining how career paths are totally unpredictable for the vast majority of people. She touched on the value of social networks and acquiring mentors, not only for professional purposes but for personal ones, as well.

 

Meeting Professor Felippe and learning about her culture and academic specialties was a special experience. I’m glad to have attended the talk and I appreciate the advice she gave us.

From Cyprus to Japan (And Everything In Between)

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Last week, I attended a Table Talk hosted by GRF Tom. Being my first Table Talk, it was refreshing to converse with other students and Tom so that everyone had an equal opportunity to speak. We began the discussion by introducing ourselves and stating where we were each from. Most of us were from the U.S. and a couple were international. Tom explained how he was from Cyprus, and he asked if any of us knew where that was in the world. Admittedly, we all took our guesses but none of us were familiar with the country. Tom explained that he came from an area of the country owned by the British, and then he spoke about how he spent much of his childhood in Scotland before spending time in Japan.

It was interesting to hear about Tom’s journey, since it was so unique. With each new country he said he lived in I became shocked and impressed, mostly because I’ve only been outside of the U.S. twice. It was interesting to hear about his experiences with each of the different cultures he became a part of. He asked each of us about our knowledge of Cyprus, Scotland, and Japan. I’ll admit, I didn’t know much about any of these countries! It did prompt me to think back about my past experiences and things I’ve learned previously. For example, when we went around the table to discuss what we each knew about Japan, I somehow remembered my high school art history class and recalled what I had learned about Japanese arches and rock gardens. I liked hearing what everyone else knew about these places too, since everyone each knew something different about each country, and usually what they brought up had something to do with their own interests or hobbies. For instance, in discussing Japan, people brought up fashion in Tokyo, manga drawings, and personal experiences of trips to Japan. I enjoyed hearing everyone’s experiences and I feel like I learned something new about my peers as well as the topics discussed.

Rose Cafe Networking Event

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Cornell is such a unique place since it brings together so many people from varying backgrounds and areas of expertise. The networking event at Rose Cafe last night really highlighted the nature of our special community and reinforced the famous motto, “any person, any study”. I met and learned from several faculty members last night and I left the event with a reinforced appreciation for my school.

Last night, I got the chance to hear about Cornell’s botanical gardens, the neuroscience behind food intake, web designs, chemical engineering, and more. I love hearing people’s personal stories, and I asked many of these Rose Fellows how they became interested in their work and how they got to where they are today. Hearing these stories made me realize that career paths are often tricky and they usually don’t end up the way one might originally expect them to. This idea helped me realize that I don’t need to know exactly what I want to do with the rest of my life yet and that it’s good to keep exploring new paths and learning new things.