This was such an interesting podcast! I really didn’t take into account how intricate city planning is, especially in Ithaca. It never came to mind how water can be such an issue with the building process. I also found it interesting that many of the staff that helps run Cornell don’t live in Ithaca but live about 20-30 miles away due to the affordable housing crisis within Ithaca. It definitely opens my eyes and makes me appreciate the staff even more. Lastly, I enjoyed learning a little more about Balch Hall. I lived there during my freshman year and the building is so unique! I didn’t know they were going under renovation and I definitely didn’t know they’re going to have to close it for over a year for that renovation. Quite an insightful talk!
Author Archives: go78
Rose Buzz: Ancient Politics
I really enjoyed getting to know the Rose house fellows and their experience with/getting to Cornell. I particularly found the story about the “laughing jury” quit interesting. It was something I just never really thought about but found quite entertaining. Another part of the podcast I really enjoyed was when Professor Fontaine was discussing his education and career path. Like he said, college is about discovering yourself and I’m finding myself at this crossroads with myself. I went into college thinking I had this set path but my plan has changed so many times upon coming to Cornell. It was really reassuring knowing that I have time to discover who/what I want to be in the future.
Mini-Pumpkin Painting
Yet again another Halloween/Fall event! I love decorating my room but I love making those decorations even more! I think I assumed the pumpkins were going to be real mini-pumpkins but I was glad they were small plastic ones that we could store and reuse again later. I decided on painting a vampire pumpkin! I painted the whole pumpkin orange, added the jack-o-lantern eyes, and to finish it off, a little fake blood dripping down its smile. It came out so cute and it was a great event to get me into the Halloween mood!
Leaf Suncatcher
Fall is my absolute favorite season. A perfect blend of warm and cold, sweaters, fall foliage, Pumpkin lattes, and so much more! Who can resist sitting on the slope and looking out at all of the fall foliage? I’ve never made a leaf suncatcher before and it was so fun just being able to get creative and make some crafts. I really love decorating my dorm according to the seasons/holidays and this made such a great addition to the stickers on my dorm windows! It was nice being able to see everyone on the zoom call and I found it cool we had different leaves in our kits, it made it fun and interesting!
Haunted Halloween Game Night!
All I can say is: I love Halloween! Halloween is by far my favorite holiday. I love the spooky feel and the dressing up. Every year, I make it a tradition to go to a haunted house with my friends. However, as we all know, COVID has really derailed a lot of our plans. Not to fret! This event was perfect in getting me into the spooky vibes of Halloween! The Harry Potter escape room was super fun and what I looked forward to the most (mainly because I reread the entire series during lockdown). The trivia was also really interesting! Who knew American’s spend $2.6 BILLION on Halloween candy?? Insane!
Chernobyl, Episode 2
For the past year, I have been trying to get myself to watch the Chernobyl HBO Mini-series but have found it so difficult to just sit down and watch something new. I’ve always been interested in learning about what happened at Chernobyl since I was a child. I even used to fall into a rabbit-hole of videos on YouTube. So naturally, when I saw this event on the Rose Scholar email, I knew I had to sign up. I hadn’t watched the first episode with the Rose Scholars group, but I did watch it on my own prior to this event. I really enjoyed being able to unplug and watch something different while learning something new. Throughout the episode, I felt so on edge (in a good way) the entire time and was so captivated with the series. So much so, that I didn’t want to wait for another event and ended up binge-watching the rest of the series that night! I really enjoyed the small discussion after watching the episode because whenever I watch something new, I always want to discuss parts that I enjoyed with friends but most of the time they either haven’t watched it or aren’t interested in discussing it. So, being able to dissect parts of the episode with my peers was interesting! They picked up certain “easter-eggs” that I hadn’t, and it really made me more intrigued with the rest of the series.
Rose Playlist
If you’re anything like me, you probably have 50 playlists on Spotify for the most random things. Every week I look forward to discovering new artists and exploring different genres. I was so excited for this event because even with listening to my “Discover Weekly” specialized playlist, I’m always interested in new music recommendations. I really enjoyed just being able to sit down, relax, and study while listening to new music. I found it really interesting how the genre’s ranged from classical to radio-pop, to indie, and then techno. I was in the library studying during this event so it was fun to find different types of music that I enjoyed playing in the background while I studied. Personally, I chose the song “Run Cried the Crawling” by Agnes Obel. It’s such a perfect fall vibe type of song. Overall, I really enjoyed this event and definitely saved some new songs to my playlists!
Card Making!
The card-making event was such a great way to start off the semester! Over the years I’ve actually developed the skill of making homemade last-minute birthday cards for my friends and family. I’ve always found them more personal and really heartfelt. So immediately, I knew I wanted to sign up for this event and see if I could learn anything new! The materials included in the kit were great to put together such cute homemade cards. I decided to make one for my friends who stayed back home for the semester as a little “I’m thinking of you” and a pick-me-up. I enjoyed just being able to sit back, take my mind off of classes, and let my creativity flow! It was nice being on a zoom with other people because it reminded me that there were people there and I felt a little less alone during this unique semester!