Author Archives: Ava

Educational Journey

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Last week, Professor Schwarz came to the Rose Scholars Cafe to talk about his novel and go through some of the topics that he writes about. Interestingly enough, I am a mentor that suggests tips on how to survive high school and it was nice to hear about how to survive college. I enjoyed hearing his narratives and how every student differently depending at what level they are in their career.

I really enjoyed how much I could relate to what he was saying. The transition to college isn’t easy but it gets easier with time. Each year in college also gets better in some regard and each year is definitely more knowledgeable than the last in terms of knowing yourself. I’ve always viewed education a self-discovery journey; we learn who we are, what e can handle and who we want to be. From freshman year not having a clue to sophomore year feeling more comfortable, then junior year securing opportunities and then senior year having to say “hello” to a new chapter in our lives, college is certainly a journey. Even after college the learning continues and we become real adults.

At the end of the day, it really isn’t about your GPA; it’s about what experiences you’ve had that shaped you and make you stand out and I honestly enjoyed this talk!

What’s time? How do I find more of it?

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This past week for the Rose Cafe Series, we had Sarah Rubenstein-Gills and Andrea Gerding talk about mindfulness and stress, and how we can incorporate different activities into our lives to deal with stress at the right time of the semester as everything gets more hectic. They gave us pro-tips and how to handle procrastination.

They discussed the importance of having breaks here and there and chunking your work. Chunking is when you break your work into portions that you can complete in a certain time period or just smaller portions rather than the entire thing. This helps you to focus on the one task at hand and better manage your time. I remember learning about this during AP Psychology as it was more helpful than cramming because of how we record memories. Even though I learned it, I never really practiced it. However, given the 24 credits I’min, this seems like a useful method to keep practicing.

They also suggested that we have a pre-work routine to tell your brain to get ready to do homework. This could include clearing your desk off, making tea, going for a run or any other ritual you would do before doing homework. Getting into some kind of routine would prepare you for what’s next; studying. I agree with this, and I think my routine is the fact that I’ll watch a short clip of Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight show to get me pumped, even though I’ll be doing homework. 

The end of the talk concluded with a meditation exercise, which admittedly, i’m bad at. It’s hard for me to fully concentrate on any one thing, especially nothing, and not the work I could be doing. That being said, overall, I thought it was a useful and rightly-timed talk!

#soilmatters

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Dawit Solomon, a Senior Research Associate at the School of Integrative Plant Science (specifically the Soil and Crop Sciences section) came to speak to us about the importance of soil. His research focuses on identifying and quantifying the processes and causes of soil degradation in natural and managed ecosystems. He led a very interesting discussion on why and how soil matters and it definitely is more important than I thought.

The bulk of his talk was actually a presentation on his own work in Africa. It was very informative and I learned a lot. He spoke about the basics, such as the fact that all elements are in soil, that’s why biohazard is taken seriously. He also went through  a quick overview of the different soils and their different formations.

The reason we study soils is because of the functions it has. These include serving as habitats, food supply and even climate moderation. Climate change affects rainfall pattern which in return affects the top soil layer. Heavy rainfall is actually bad, despite popular belief, as it actually removes top layer. Additionally, 25% of CO2 emission comes from soil.

He also spoke on how to study soil (by regions) and different levels associated with soil study. He also praised the engineering department as it has great opportunities for students to study soil. Geospatial analysis analyze greenhouse gases and substances at a landscape level. I found this interesting because I thought a lot of it would be outside but it’s mostly done in a lab.

My favorite part of the talk, however, was the beginning. He asked us how we defined soil. I really liked the definition the girl sitting next to me said: soil is the “foundation on which we build our society.” It made me think of the fact that the perspective we look at something from determines how much we value that concept. This applicable to life in that we can’t really devalue something just because it’s not important to us. Most people probably say why would you want to study soil, but every study, different importance.

The American Common Good: Applicable to All

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Professor Sherman Jackson, the King Faisal Chair in Islamic Thought and Culture and Professor of Religion and American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California, came to speak to us on the American Common Good in terms of the Islamic faith. He wrote numerous books and is an instrumental people for shedding light on not only what it means to be a Muslim, but also a black Muslim.

His talk was extremely profound. His messages were applicable to, in my opinion, everyone. Even though he spoke mainly to Islamic ideals and beliefs, I saw many opportunities for it to apply to others of various religions. His one sentiment that I agreed with the most was his idea that we do not need to hide our faith in order to contribute to the “American common good.” He spoke mainly to the Muslim community that is post 9-11, saying that after this world-changing event, many Muslims felt the need to hide their beliefs in order to contribute to the American common good as they were “smeared with collective guilt,” which is not the case. True Muslim values are in fact aligned with the American common good.

I also heavily agreed with his notion that all religions need to work together. It is essential that religions don’t slander each other or to pass judgements. I do believe that if religions set aside the key differences, they will see the same basic beliefs match up: be a good person in the eyes of God. I think that working together rather than fighting over these differences could solve a lot of problems, and essentially contribute to this American common good.

Overall, this was a great talk and definitely informative. It raised several good issues and led me to think more about the issues of politics and how they intertwine with religion, even though church and state are supposed to be separate.

Talking Tech

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It’s crazy to think of how far we’ve gone from a couple of years ago in the field of technology. From no Facebook, smartphones, or even the huge company known as Google today, we’ve come a long way. It was nice of Professor Schwartz to come and speak to us about the new developments at the new tech school in NYC that remind us to keep our minds open for the future.

The Jacobs Institute at Cornell Tech aims to teach students how to be leaders in this evolving technological world. the school wants to teach them skills in leadership, management, technology, and entrepreneurship with hopes to teach students technology’s human side. Through this, the goal is to enable techies to communicate with non-techies, which I think is important as well, especially across generations.

I additionally like the option to work with healthcare and technology because it appeals to those who want to make an impact in the medical field and do not necessarily want to be a doctor. Another aspect of the Jacobs Institute that was appealing was the fact that students get to work with companies on real projects. This is great exposure and real world application, which in my opinion is super valuable.

It will be nice to see the future success and technological advancements and just how much they will change our lives. The tech school will be a great addition to the Cornell University brand. I await its great impact on the world of technology (healthcare, business and the humanistic components essential to technology inclusive) in the coming years.

Environmental Awareness: (Not) A Laughing Matter

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Why does the climate want privacy?
It is changing.

It is a very serious matter though when people think of climate change, they disregard it or overlook it. Yet this “winter” has been quite unpredictable and definitely an eye-opener for anyone who thinks global warming isn’t a thing, I guess you were a bit wrong. The talk by Aaron Sachs, Associate Professor, Department of History, and House Fellow at Flora Rose House was great in that it shared how some of the best comedy in American history has arisen as “gallows humor,” as he calls it, in the face of these difficult circumstances. It was nice to see that even in pressing times, America finds a way to laugh. 

It was nice to hear that these environmentalists are also people in that they too have humor. I liked the idea of having comedy included as we discuss these important issues, because let’s face it, everything is delivered better when we can laugh about it. I can’t help but think of another example in which comedy is used to illustrate dark and deep topics; the Madea series. Anyone who knows anything about Madea is that she is one funny woman. She is easily entertaining to watch however when you actually watch an entire Madea film, the main storyline is often one people typically deem as a tough subject matter such as domestic abuse, racism and familial problems. Tough Madea acts as comedic relief, the audience gets the main message. If done effectively, I think that using comedy in the trying to get the message across will be beneficial and engage even younger audiences that can grow up and be environmental leaders of tomorrow.

Love is Weakness

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Last semester I attended the seminar “How do we love?” and thought that it would be interesting to see if and how my views had changed when discussing love. I don’t think they have changed that much but it was interesting, as usual, to hear what others had to say about love.

We talked about what love is to all of us and jotted words and phrases down on the board. Some words that resonated with me were selflessness and selfishness, as well as family. Selflessness in love makes sense to me because you do everything you can for the person you love, or for the people you love. I never really question why I do some things for certain people, I just do them because I love them. Additionally love can be very selfish. If we love someone, especially romantically, we want them to ourselves. Family is love, the only kind I’ve ever known and the most rudimentary unit of love, other than loving ourselves. Family is what teaches love in my opinion and gives us our first taste of love. Perhaps family is what teaches us to love ourselves in the first place…

The poems Dr. Alvarez read to us were thought provoking and very deep and descriptive. In his own written work, he talks about the way love is captured through the five senses and I really enjoyed this imagery. Love is not just felt, but rather seen, heard, tasted and even smelled. He talked about loving a hometown and loving a person and even loving yourself in order to love more. I find his research very fascinating and would love to learn more about how he intends to map out love for queers.

Overall, I enjoyed this talk. I still think love is a form of weakness and after hearing the poems, my thought is reinforced. Love makes us vulnerable, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t love.

We Are The Light

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I always enjoy going to the Johnson Museum and am always looking for excuses to go there. The art exhibits usually have profound meanings and make me think deeper about things I wouldn’t normally think twice about. Going to the Welcome Reception was no different, except there were snacks and I made a bunch of new friends!

There were a lot of different art pieces that I enjoyed, as well as the Laser Room! The Laser Room was pretty cool because depending on where you were standing and how you moved, the same lights reflected differently and were difficult to see at times. I definitely recommend going and checking it out or yourself.

One of the new exhibits were the denim-covered floor pieces. One of the pieces actually allowed you to sit on them and watch a message from the artist. The other was a charred piece that was aesthetically pleasing to the eye. These were two of my favorites because of the messages on them. One said “The fire is out but we have the light” and the other said “the sun is gone but we have the light.” We have the light is inspirational to me and I agree that we have the light to lead. I also believe that we could be the light in the sense that we have it and can use it to lead, serving as a light for others.

Another piece that I learned about were the large murals recovered form an old hospital on Roosevelt Island. It was great to earn about where they came from and what they actually meant from a lady who helped to retouch them. She told us how they had been buried but when recovered showed a story of how life was in the hospital. It being a terminal hospital, the patients decorated the walls with what they saw inside the hospital as well as outside looking out to the river. They were beautiful pieces, again with deeper meaning that I learned about only after talking to that woman.

 

Overall, I had a great time and hope to go on more Johnson Museum adventures and meet more great people like the ones below!

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Straight Outta Cornell Cinema

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Straight Outta Compton was a well written film. The screening was preceded by a performance from Break Free. The performance was a pleasant surprise. The performers were really good! They had a lot of energy and set the stage for an exciting movie night.

The film was pretty good in terms of evoking emotions and making the audience feel the passion and even the anger each character had. The main catalyst of events was the police brutality cases and in my opinion was why the movie was created in the first place. Sure, the story of each character’s journey through thick and thin was heartfelt and touching. However, the main message, in my opinion, was that even though all of these life changing events happened, police brutality still exists.

While not a big fan of rap music or not a follower of what’s new and good, I do know that rap is a form of art and when bars are written well, they can elicit many emotions and feelings. I have to say that the movie incorporated tracks that fit nicely into the story and highlighted key points in each artist’s history. I also enjoyed the ending scene where they show where are they now and some of the successes of Dr. Dre and Ice Cube.

Overall, I’m glad I went to see the film as it was highly regarded. I do agree that the film was greatly made and it was interesting to see the starting of some great artists today!