When I was a child, I watched Disney and other similar animated films. Upon signing up for this activity, I had not heard about the film or knew anything about it. I was pleasantly surprised and entertained by the sisters and their friend Totoro as the film progressed. Additionally, I was unaware the original movie was in Japanese and did not find it as difficult to read the subtitles as I did when I studied German a few years ago. I would not normally choose an animated film to watch for fun as an adult, but after watching My Neighbor Totoro, I would definitely look into similar films that would end as happily as it did because I enjoyed it so much.
Author Archives: gls236
The Making of a Paper Objects
In the past, I have made various origami figures. Most of the time, I had made easier figures such as cats or dogs, but today’s session allowed for us to make cranes, roses, frogs and attempt a turtle. Thankfully, the instructor of this session found a video that was slow and slowed the speed of the video so it was easier to do. As a near-finals week activity, it was extra relaxing to watch the video at a slower speed and not feel additional stress from falling behind in the video. Plus, I know have some decorative origami!
A Look Into Spring 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a lot of uncertainty to students and faculty at Cornell and across the nation. Thanks to Dr. Lombardi, a lot of questions regarding the spring semester were answered. What I liked the most was that he listened to all students and took recommendations from the students in the discussion. He interacted with us and listened to our thoughts, which made him more approachable and easier to talk to. Usually, people in higher administration have larger concerns to attend to before talking to students, but Dr. Lombardi truly cares about connecting the student body to the administration.
Our Planet
This is one of the second times I have watched Our Planet. Both times, I have been amazed by the organisms and information presented along with the quality of the visuals. The part that fascinated me the most was the ending, where the scientists showed the wildlife in Chernobyl was thriving. Despite watching the Chernobyl series depicting the devastating effects, both plants and animals are thriving in an area where humans cannot. Using this area as an example, hopefully wildlife conservation efforts will continue to rise, as a decrease in human interaction could be a solution to species dying out.
Radiation
Different from the first episode, the characters have finally realized the extent of the situation at hand (to some extent). Even still, the information held by some is seen as a threat, and leads to the arrest of one of the characters as she threatened to reveal information. What I found most interesting in this episode was how easily the wife of one of the characters was able to sneak into a hospital. Maybe because we are in the time of COVID and from volunteering in a hospital this was shocking to me, but I feel there should have been more security or it shouldn’t have been that easy. Especially because this was a situation in which the severity was unknown and because her husband was extremely sick, I found this more surprising.
Yoga Wakeup
This past Sunday, I was lucky enough to participate in some morning yoga. While I was hesitant to sign up because it was on Sunday morning, I am very glad I decided to go! Because of the gentle movements, it wasn’t too hard to participate in and could even be altered to fit yoga styles and intensity levels. Waking up with yoga was something I have not done for a while, but it left me much more awake than any other day, and more naturally than coffee would.
The Effect of Social Media Today
After watching the Netflix documentary “The Social Dilemma”, it became much more clear to me that social media has grown significantly since I was a kid. Students my age grew up with developing technology, while the students today grow up with it improving from an already advanced point. Although technology is super useful for connecting others and today in online learning, its overuse can cause mental, emotional and even physical harm once you become dependent and attached to it. Without interventions from media companies, it will become more and more difficult to detach from it.
A Realistic Thriller
The short film series “Chernobyl” depicts the tragic events of a nuclear power plant and its effects. What I found most interesting was the use of film effects to add to the eeriness of the episode. Specifically, darker and dim colors in addition to quite music made the events of the nuclear catastrophe even more terrifying. Additionally, since I knew the aftermath and long-standing effects of the situation, watching the response of the scientists and government officials made the episode especially hard to watch due to their lack of urgency and dismissal towards the severity of the situation.