Author Archives: jhw262

Ithaca is Gorges

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Andy Zepp from the Finger Lakes Land Trust came to talk at the final Rose Café of the year. In this talk, he spoke about what he does around the Finger Lakes Area. Although I was only able to stay halfway through, I admire what he does and how he helps the Finger Lakes stay in the best shape possible. I found his talk very interesting for the main reason that he developed a love for nature once getting to Ithaca. I can completely relate to this. Before coming to Ithaca, I didn’t do much outdoors. I would go for runs, but never really appreciate what is all around me. Since coming to Ithaca, this has completely changed. A day does not go by without me realizing how beautiful of a place we live in and how lucky we are. When I can, I enjoy getting off campus and finding some of these beautiful places we are so lucky to have. Because of this, what Andy and the Land Trust does is so important. They work to protect this area and all aspects of it. Without Andy and his team, many of the places we get to hike through would not be accessible to us or might even be destroyed in later years. The Finger Lakes trail is an absolutely beautiful place to spend some time. Having so many beautiful places so close to Cornell makes it standout from other college campuses and makes Ithaca such a special and important place.

Social Working

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The talk given at the Rose Café by Laura Rodriguez de Simons explained her work with the Tompkins Country Advocacy Center and the people in this area. She told us about who she works with on a daily basis. But on top of that, she showed us how your passion for something can become a job.
During her talk, Rodriguez told us about some of the difficult aspects of her job. One of the parts I found very interesting was how she said it was often difficult for the people she works with to separate outside life from her job. Being a social worker, you are working with specific people trying to help them in any way possible. Throughout this, you will learn all about them and their lives. Because of this, a connection may start to form in a way that you are truly concerned for the people you are working with. This can make it difficult to leave work behind when you leave the door because you are instead seeing the people and their issues, instead of it not just being another client.
Laura’s passion for helping others was clear. I think it is truly inspiring that she was able to turn her passion for helping others into her job. She did mention that it was difficult because of the fact that there isn’t necessarily a large salary waiting for social workers. But she was a clear example of how you can love what you do every day and be happy. I really enjoyed her talk and learning more about social working and also Tompkins County.

Cambodia

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The talk given by Andrew Mertha was one of my favorite Rose Cafes of this semester. During this evening, he told us about Cambodia; both the history of the country along with his own experiences. Mertha delivered his talk with information and humor. He made the talk interesting, enjoyable, and informational. While I knew very little about Cambodia coming into this talk, I learned a lot from him. I think the most interesting part of his talk was his personal experience in Cambodia. He told us about his process of getting the reserves he wanted. Although it was an extreme struggle and he made some enemies along the way, he eventually got the reserves he wanted. Through this story, he was able to portray to us the passion he had for this knowledge and subject matter and how dedicated he was to this. I personally found the talk inspiring to find someone who was so passionate about what they are studying. In addition to be an extremely informational talk, Mertha was such an enjoyable speaker. He was engaging and funny. I truly enjoyed this talk and everything I learned from Mertha.

Professors and College

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The first time I had the pleasure of meeting Professor Schwarz was a few weeks ago. I was out on a run mid-afternoon and he asked if we were on the track team and knew three of the girls. They had been his students and wanted us to give them his best. I then realized that he was not your average professor, or at least the ones I had come into contact with. His talk allowed me to see more of what he would be like as a professor. During his talk, he emphasized some important parts of the college experience. One major part was getting to know your professors. This is something that I know is very important. The professor here are essential for your growth and development not only inside the class, but also outside. They can help you with anything, whether it is learning the material a little better or finding a summer internship. Developing these relationships with your professors is crucial for a successful college experience.
One part I had to disagree with was the idea that you take a professor, not a course. Personally, I know that I have required courses I must take. The professor teaching them does not get to have an impact on whether or not I take that specific course. While I can do this with course outside my major, I am usually more interested in filling a requirement or making sure I actually get into the class than who is teaching. While I do think it is great advice, I personally am unable to go through with this. Another topic of his talk that I found interesting was the talk about Greek life on campus. Cornell is a huge place, especially for people coming from small schools. The adjustment to college life is hard enough without the struggle to find a group to fit in with. While some people may not like the Greek system, I think the idea of having a group of people to trust and rely on very shortly into your college career is extremely important for your success as a student here. My friends are always the people who get me through, and having them makes life here much easier. The Greek system can provide those friends and support that you need. One thing I wish I had gotten more from his talk was how to be successful outside of college. He gave us a lot of good advice for coming in college and freshman year, but I unfortunately did not get much else.

Stressed Out

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When hearing about this talk, the first thing that immediately came to my mind was the 21 Pilots Song, Stressed Out. This song has been getting a lot of air time recently. In fact, last semester, this song reached its peak during the finals preparation time. A lot of kids seem to be relating to this overall theme of being stressed out and wishing they were younger to avoid dealing with these stresses. While this is a catchy and quite relatable song, it doesn’t really help anyone deal with the stresses. But, the stress we encounter isn’t necessarily a bad thing. A certain level of stress helps us to get work done and be productive. Stress becomes an issue when it starts to impact the way we are feeling, whether it is our emotional or physical state. Andrea Gerding and Sarah Rubenstein- Gilis from Gannet recommended some things to help when the stress turns from helpful to hurtful.
The biggest takeaway I got from their advice was sleep. I’ve always been someone who needs their sleep. In high school, I had to be in bed by 9, 9:30 at the latest to function properly the next day. As I’ve progressed through college, this 9:30 bed time has somehow disappeared, but I still know the importance of sleep. I learned that the amount of sleep you’re supposed to actually get is over nine hours. The statistic always thrown around is eight hours, but the 9 is what you’re actually supposed to get. In addition, I learned that most muscle recovery happens in the seventh hour. I did not know this beforehand. Muscle recovery is such an important part of life, both with athletics and the everyday stresses that I found this extremely interesting.
Another thing I learned from them was about meditation. We were lead in a 5 minute mediation at the end of their talk. This meditation left me feeling slightly sleepy, but very calm. Since it only took a few minutes, it is something that can be done even in the busiest of times. The research related to meditation showed a ton of positive benefits. Something like this would be a quick way to get yourself back on track during even in the most stressful times.

Student Athlete Life

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Tennis Coach Silviu Tanasoiu came to speak to us at the most recent Rose Scholars Café. Through his talk, he spoke a lot about sports and university and how the two went together. As a student athlete, I related to this talk and all he said. While he was specifically talking about tennis and his experiences, I recognized my own experiences in running and life here at Cornell in those stories as well. I understood the 7 hour drives on the weekend to compete, only to come back and be up doing homework all night. Or the scheduling the days perfectly so that everything fits in around practices. In addition, he talked about the recruiting process and how that all worked for tennis. It reminded me of my own recruitment process and the reasons that I chose to come to Cornell. Although being a student athlete may be really busy, I do enjoy it and appreciate the opportunity I have here at Cornell. His speech reminded me of that and I appreciated it, since it is so easy to lose sight of that.
One story he told was of a player he was recruiting and his mother. He talked about how the mother of the athlete only spoke Russian, so he had no way of communicating with her. But he eventually wrote a letter to get into contact with her, and he thinks that’s how the student ended up at Cornell. In the process of sports, the people who support us are often times lost in the shuffle. But with out the support of the parents and family members, I know I would not be where I am today. To see a coach recognize and appreciate this was amazing. All around, I enjoyed his talk about the combination of athletics and university.

Dreamers

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Before this talk, I had not heard much about the Dreamers or Dream Act. While listening to Esmeralda give her talk, it was clear what kind of conflict this situation would bring up. The Dreamers are a generation that came into America illegally as children and were at a disadvantage later on in life because of their status. While people have tried to change things to make it better for them, it has still been difficult for these children to have improved lives.
The part I found more interesting though, was the fact that the children did not like the term Dreamers. Originally, it sounds as though it would be a good name to go by. A dreamer is hoping for the best they can get out of life. But, the connotation that goes with it is not always this positive. Instead, the generation sees it as putting the blame on their parents and the fact that they caused them to have these issues when they are growing up. Most children are too young to remember or even understand what is going on when they come over. Therefore, they do not realize until much later on in life that they are not citizens and do not have the same opportunities as other citizens in this country. Through Esmeralda’s talk, I learned a lot about what exactly the Dream Act and Dreamers were and how they felt about their situation.

Three stone fire

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Everyone wants to do what is best for the environment to leave it in better conditions than it currently is. But through the research of Professor Blalock and his group, it was seen that not everyone will actually take the right steps here. In his research, Professor Blalock tried to get people to use a newer and more efficient way of heating to be used in the home. The original procedure they were using was a three stone fire. This fire reeked havoc on the lungs and health of the people in these homes. When offered with a better option, most people did not want it. The few that did take the offer, however, were unable to find it later on when Professor Blalock came back. Even though they knew it would be the better option, they did not want to change their ways. The point here is that people often know what the right thing to do is when it comes to what will help the environment. But, it is seen that not everyone will take those steps. Instead of thinking that others will be the ones that will help, we need to start to take things into our own hands and make the changes necessary.

Roosevelt Island

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Last Wednesday, I attended the Rose café with Adam Schwartz. He spoke to us about the Jacob’s Tech School and the up and coming school they are building. The Cornell Tech School, which is located on Roosevelt Island in NYC, is like no other school at the moment. The vision they have for this school was very interesting. Unlike your standard school, they will be approaching the material in a very different way. The building design, which are a few large open floors, lends itself to the makings of a great collaboration center, which is exactly what they are planning to do. Instead of working individually, students will be working in groups and with professors to get not only the best education they can, but also the skills they will need for future jobs and projects. The hands on experience they get seems like a great opportunity to be working in the field. With the school being located in New York City, I think this is a really great opportunity for people in the tech fields. Through his talk, I’m glad I learned about this tech school and how it will be different from the programs out there now.

Why so serious?

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Last week I attended the rose café on the environment given by Aaron Sachs. The goal of this talk was to shine a light on environment issues in the best way possible. With jokes and facts put together, Aaron Sachs was able to make this engaging and informing at the same time.
One part of the talk that I really enjoyed was the clip he showed of three environmentalists talking to someone outside of the realm. In this scene, the environmentalists were trying to convince the woman to create a highway just for wolves. While the woman found this amusing and tried to make jokes about the situation, the environmentalists did not pick up or care about that. They were all business for the sake of the wolves. I think that this scene was interesting. It shows the tension that can be created between environmentalists and others that they are trying to work with. This could make it difficult for people to work together cohesively, which in turn would create more problems in the end.
While I understand the environmental issues are a serious topic, I also see where people could have a hard time dealing with the seriousness all the time. this talk by Aaron Sachs helped me to think about some of the issues and how they could be better dealt with.

Melancholy or sadness?

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Through conversation and viewing parts of the movie Vertigo, last Wednesday we discussed melancholy and what it means. Going into this discussion, I was not sure how sadness and melancholy differed. I thought of sadness as something you felt and tended to overlook melancholy and its meaning. When we looked into it further, it seems that sadness is something more fleeting and more of an emotional state. Melancholy at its roots is something that is actually a physical state. It used to be that there were four humors in the body that linked up with different physical aspects and seasons. Melancholy was black bile and connected with the autumn season.
Where melancholy comes into play is that it is something that everyone has to deal with at some point. It may not be something consistent but it is something we all face. Just like the seasons, it may come and go but we can also learn from it. As Sara pointed out, there is an almost beauty in it. Something beautiful comes from the struggles and the things we go through that help us grow. Many artists have their best work when they are dealing with a state of melancholy, the idea of a tortured artists. It gives them some way to find the beauty in their struggles.
While talking about Vertigo, we talked about the idea of things coming back. I love the idea that things come back to us in some way. Whether it is a lesson or a person, things have a way of reappearing in different forms to teach us something that we may have skipped or missed. Everything around us is a lesson and we are constantly learning and developing. People and things come into our life so that we can learn from them and come out different, never quite the same. This cafe was an interesting, eye opening experience about a topic I never gave much consideration. As always, I learned a lot and really enjoyed it.

No Peace, No Piece

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Chi-raq was the story of two gangs, their rivalry, and how they settled the score to unite Chicago. While the movie was a tad unrealistic, the story line made it easy for the audience to understand the issues in Chicago. One thing I found very interesting about the movie was the way the people spoke. Unlike your average movie, they actors spoke in a rhythmic like way with rhymes at the end. I thought this was a very interesting thing to do because it changed the whole way you saw the movie. Lines would stick with the audience more than just your average dialect. This helped to get the audience thinking more about the words and what was going on. I found this extremely interesting and enjoyed this part of the movie.
Although I understand that this movie was meant to bring up issues and not necessarily solve them, I have a problem with how the women were portrayed. I appreciate that the women decided that they needed to take action to save the community that they are living in. but the fact that they do this by denying their boyfriends sex frustrated me. It appears that we have nothing to offer but our bodies, which should not be the case. In addition, the movie brought up a lot of different points that I think needed to be addressed, such as what is happening in Chicago at this moment. In the end, the women prevail and end up solving the violence. I think that the movie was a good approach to bring up a lot of issues that are relevant right now, but did not exactly solve anything.