Ancient Politics with humor

This podcast for the this week about Ancient Politics and contemporary issues. These podcasts are extremely fascinating because you can hear about the life stories of very interesting individuals. It is always especially intriguing to hear how people discovered what they were passionate in and how that translated in a career. The guests were very humorous but also helped me think about a lot of things I hadn’t considered before. Hearing such great words about Cornell really made me happy to be here and excited to form a community here for the next three years.

How to approach the college experience

Listening to the Rose Bud Podcast for how to make the most of my college experience, I was able to relate to a lot of aspects of the guests on the podcast and so it really helped me gain an insight that will be very beneficial to me. Both of the guests were interested in the same majors as I am and really helped me through a lot of confusion that I’ve had with the field. They’ve also given me interesting ideas such as participating in research next semester to really make Cornell feel like a second home to me. Being a transfer student this semester, I really felt like I needed insight on how to better my college experience so it was great to hear what they had to say.

Thanksgiving Garland

On one of my last days before heading home for the rest of the semester I was glad to have participated in the thanksgiving garland event. Most of my friends on campus had left at that point so it was really nice to not only meet new people in my building but also participate in a great distressing activity. I got creative and just used some leftover notebook paper and drew designs on various pieces of paper but I still had a lot of fun!

The Great Ending

Whenever anyone asks me what my favorite TV show, my answer is always Chernobyl. It brings to light an event that changed the world as we knew it. It led to the eventual collapse of a major world super power. Chernobyl destroyed the lives of many in the Soviet Union and it changed the way the world approached the energy sector. Like with most shows, I love the last episode the most because of how much is brings to light. Not only are the physics behind nuclear reactors explained with accuracy (wish I love being a STEM major), but the real root causes that have plagued the Soviet Union for decades are explained as well. Know having studying Soviet history, I now understand how the themes of efficiency above all and the need to keep up an image of powerful were so important to the Soviet Union, but also what led to their eventual demise. This show is really able to explain this idea and I applaud it for that.

Thinking about the Future

Listening to the Get-that-internship panel today was a super rewarding experience. It was super great to listen to genuine advice from upperclassmen students who have been in our position before. All the panelists were super creative in how they found their internship opportunities, whether it was finding one though an unconventional route or just doing their own thing. It helped relieve some stress since I know that a competitive conventional internship is not the only path to pursue. There is a lot of terminology associated with getting an internship that they helped me understand. Networking in general is very daunting but the panelists helped share some tips on easy ways to approach it and utilize the resources I have being at Cornell.

Mass Incarceration and the Development of Children

This seminar was especially powerful and eye opening to me because it pushed me to consider situations that I hadn’t before. Mass incarnation seriously disrupts the foundations of families, and disproportionally affects African American families. Trauma in children associated with parental incarceration usually results in poorer performance in school, and if the proper support system is not set up, those children are more likely to get into trouble. The truth of the matter is that mass incarceration disproportionally affects poorer communities where community support or proper support systems are not set up in place to help the children who’s parents’ are out of their lives. These children, already dealing with so much, have a hard time focusing off themselves, on their education or have to constantly worry about wealth or food. These negative pressures on the children are what create a cycle. I really appreciated listening to this seminar because it allowed to me reflect on how truly interconnected the world is and educated me about a topic I wasn’t totally familiar with before.

Success in College is about Growth

Attending Professor’s Schwartz’s lecture about How to Succeed in College and Beyond has been one of my highlights this week. Being a new transfer this semester, and this semester being as hectic as it is, it has been difficult to take a step back and realize where I am and what I am supposed to be doing. Various aspects about this semester have been quite tough, but looking back these experiences have taught me how to deal with difficult situations. So far, I have learned so much from my peers, and so much about life so I can look at my college experience and be proud of it, even if it is not totally what I expected it to be. It was very refreshing hearing some advice from someone as charismatic as he is and to just hear his perspective on how to navigate through these years.

Chernobyl Episode 3

I have been a huge fan of this show since I first saw earlier this year, but I can still never get tired of the show. There is always so much to impact in each episode. A theme that was really prevalent during this episode that stuck out with me was the theme of sacrifice for their nation. During the episode, miners were called in order to build a liquid nitrogen heat exchanger underneath the reactor and they all had to build the whole thing by hand. The risks for the task are immense and even though the miners were not guaranteed protection afterwards they accepted the task. In a way, they all agreed to sacrifice themselves to protect the Soviet Union. This concept is especially interesting to me since I am now taking a class on the Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union and learned that this concept of extreme sacrifice for the greater good has been a theme amongst the inhabitants of the soviet union since its creation. It has been very interesting rewatching Chernobyl with a new perspective on the people.

Study Tunes with Rose House

Having been sitting in the Physical Sciences Building all day studying for prelims it was really nice to tune into the “Rose House Radio” and listen to the song recommendations of my peers. I discovered so many new songs and added them all to my playlists (thank you to whoever suggested Run Cried the Crawling, I now love that song). It was so great hearing songs from a bunch a new genres (and I loved that some classical songs were suggested to). Overall, it was a great blend of songs to listened to for something different while studying and I’m super glad I got to participate!