Snip, Snip, Snip: the sound of scissors fill my ears as I enter a room of college students staring intently at a how-to instruction guide to making paper snowflakes. As I spend more time at Cornell, I realize how intelligent everyone is in their respective studies and passions; however, I also realize how the time spent advancing our academic lives have precluded us from enjoying the things we may have once been good at or enjoyed doing as kids. When I was a child, I remember making hundreds of paper snowflakes during the winter; in fact, I did it so often that the movement of folding the paper first hot dog then hamburger style became second nature. Inevitably, as I got older, I spent more time flipping pages of big textbooks instead of making paper crafts.

The paper cutting event was a nice retreat back to my childhood days. It made me realize the significance of doing small things like making paper lanterns for Chinese New Year or Snowflakes commemorating the winter season because it allowed me to connect back to my roots. I found the activity to be a moment of respite and a period of unity as we all struggled together making the seemingly easy crafts into something that somewhat resembled what we were going for.

Attending the discussion, to learn about, MVR, the founder of The School of Human Ecology and the woman that my current house was dedicated to, Flor Rose, was one of my most insightful nights here at Cornell. I learned about the women’s professional adventures on and off campus, which by the way, was more than extraordinary, and was even more intrigued to uncover information about their private lives. Perhaps one aspect of of both of these incredible females that I admire the most is how they broke academic and societal barriers. Flora Rose was the first woman to come up with a statistical method of observation in order to collect data for one of her nutrition related projects. For living in a patriarchal society, however, this feat, invented solely by her was actually accredited to a man many years later when he adopted it from Ms. Rose.  Likewise, MVR was making transformative changes to include females into the academic system. She believed in the importance of Home Ed classes and pushed for the involvement of males to participate in them as well. Furthermore, acceptance of some societal practices that are highly criticized in today’s world was eye opening to learn about. MVR and Flora Rose were in a loving relationship and decided to live together, unmarried, without judgement, a lifestyle that was practiced by many female couples during the time. Many woman, who did not sexually define themselves nor put a label on their marriage were actually able to live in society without being looking at differently. I was pleasantly surprised learning this tidbit about their personal endeavors because you would think that females in the past were judged for their behavior with an even more keen eye than by today’s society, but people were actually accepting. This makes me wonder about the future of todays LGBTQ community and how they will be accepted/perceived in society in the coming years. Will they face even more injustices and societal pressure to feel accepted, or will it get better?

Learning about these trailblazers’ experiences in Cornell has enamored me of some powerful women that Cornell was constructed after, encouraging me to learn more about them, their practices, and apply them to my own experiences while I still have the chance!

Diya Jale, a phrase with Sanskrit origin, is translated to ” A Night of Lights.” In India, a widely celebrated holiday by Hindus is Diwali. For Diwali, Hindus all around the world wear new traditional clothing, meet with their relatives, pray at their temples, light “diyas”, which are clay candle holders, and dance the night away. As a Muslim, I never experienced the essence of Diwali and its festivities until I got to Cornell, and it was one of the largest and well organized cultural shows I was able to enjoy. South Asian dance groups and acapella groups performed, along with other Cornell dance teams such as Breakfree. Attending the event in the midst of pre lim was the perfect way to distress, as I was able to enjoy Bollywood music, laugh to the comedian’s jokes and experiences from his time spent in the Bollywood industry, and dance all night with my friends. Diya Jale will always be a night to look forward to in Cornell and I’m excited for the next two in my time here.