Author Archives: Priyanka Kompella

What are land trusts?

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This week’s talk on the Finger Lakes Land Trust, led by one of our own, Andy Zepp, B.A. ILR ’85 and M.P.S. Natural Resources ’89, was incredible educational on the topic of Upstate New York sustainability and the methods by which the gorges land is preserved.

Andy Zepp is the executive director of the Finger Lake Land Trust and manages an enormous network of preserved land, countless selfless volunteers, and a small group of employees working towards sustaining the land that make Upstate New York. Going into the talk with little prior knowledge about how land is sustained in America, I learned a lot about land trusts and the way they function. It surprised me the most that land trusts are not government mandated and that often times, land trusts are formed piece by piece, only a little segment of land at at time, most commonly through deals with the current owners to preserve their land and promise to sell to the land trust when they are ready to sell.

What amazed me most was where the land trust gets their funding from to purchase such large chunks of land. They get most of their funding from their 1000 organization members. I did not know that local citizens would be so passionate about conserving the land and I am certainly grateful that they are!

Life as a Social Worker

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Last week I attended a talk by Laura Rodriguez de Simons, who is a counselor who has committed her career to social work. The ideas and lessons I took away from the talk were entirely unexpected and I am really grateful that I attended. The talk encompassed a wide array of topics from Laura’s educational background, to her career path, to social issues, to privacy in sexual assault protocol within the university, to how to build a career in non-profit social work.

The discussion about whether a career in non-profit social work was very educational. Some of the key things that Laura emphasized was that anyone who wants to go into non-profit or advocacy needs to care a lot about serving others, because at the end of the day, it is a career that tests your selflessness. A lot of us students want to better the planet some way or the other, but Laura made it a good point that advocacy may not be right for everyone, and that people need to find their own medium.

Another idea that Laura emphasized was that if you want to go into non-profit, you have to avoid the logical, straightforward, sensible, and secure route, and follow your passion. You may not be financial secure, but if it truly your passion, you will thrive. Laura was actually following a very practical and secure path before she joined the non-profit industry. She got an MBA from a premiere university and was a very successful project manager in commercial real estate before she realized that was not where her passion lies.

Finally, she stated that it was very important to pursue things you care about and are curious about during your undergraduate years.

 

 

A Musical Afternoon at Bailey Hall

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Last Saturday, I had the pleasure of attending Cornell’s Symphony Orchestra at Bailey Hall. As a performer, it’s always exciting for me to be on the other side of the curtain. Because I’m involved in dance community, I’ve seen many different shows at Bailey Hall, from dance showcases to Bill Gates, but I’ve never attended a Philharmonic Orchestra concert. I was amazed at how so many different sounds could be created by materials like strings and wood. It was incredible how I could hear emotion in the music, excitement, sadness, yearning, all of it. Not only was the show exciting to hear, it was also fun to watch. Every musician was in sync with the other in movement, forming their very own dance.

The program consisted of music composed by Tchaikovsky and Sibelius, two well known musicians of the 19th century. Tchaikovsky is very well known for his music to the Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and Sleeping Beauty, which are coincidentally all very famous ballets. I personally have had the privilege of both watching these ballets danced by professional ballet companies and dancing in these ballets myself. I was surprised that I could recognize the composer and tell the difference between ballads. While classical art hasn’t been very popular in recent history, it has maintained its presence as entertainment for well off or well educated folk. I think this is because both witnessing, or participating, in classical art forms are very costly. Wether you are attending a show in a fancy auditorium, paying for lessons, or buying that instrument or pointe shoes. For this reason, I am glad that the CSO opens up the show to the whole community for free and allows many people of all backgrounds to participate in classical culture.

I was impressed by the amount of passion all of the musicians seemed to have towards the art. You could see the passion in their faces and movements and thereby feel the emotion that the music brings. Classical music is getting more and more obscure as times progress, so it was very exciting to see that there are still many students that whole heartedly dedicate time towards.

Impromptu Lesson on the History of Cambodia

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As someone who considers themselves well traveled, the talk unexpectedly led by Andrew Mertha, who is a government professor, made me realize how little I knew about the history of foreign countries. Almost all of our history lessons from K-12 are told through the eyes of the United States or Europe and the British Empire, and so we end up learning little about the history of foreign countries, and more about their effect on us.

And so it was very interesting to hear of Andrew Mertha’s talk on the history of Cambodia, his research on the relations between China and Cambodia, and China’s influence on Cambodia.

One idea that really caught me by surprise was the fact that while China is perceived as potentially world dominating and insanely organized by foreign countries, internally, Chinese government and policies are incredibly disorganized.

Another story that was really cool to hear of was how Professor Mertha tried to get information about Chinese influence in Cambodia unsuccessfully, but was able to find high security documents on Chinese influence in Cambodia in China almost out in the open.

This demonstrates the disorganization in Chinese government and makes me wonder how high security level information is stored in foreign countries, and how it is distributed.

All in all, I’m glad I got introduced to the history of Cambodia. It made me curious about Cambodian history and now I am hoping to read up more on foreign history over the summer.

A Talk on the Dynamics of Life

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Professor Schwarz discussed his new book, How to Succeed in College and Beyond: The Art of Learning, last Wednesday. It was an interesting talk, because he discussed the chapters of his book through chronological order and the chapters happened to be congruous to the stages of life. Dr. Schwarz, began by discussing the last years of high school, and the turmoil and trials of applying to college. He then advanced to the challenges we face through each of our four years of college, and then discussed the challenges that follow college.

It was interesting to hear about the college application process in such a professional manner after having participated, and survived, through the process. What seems like the most important decision of a lifetime precollege, seems quite petty after the fact. Dream schools and reach schools and safety schools sound very unimportant once you’ve tried to get employed, earn money, pay rent, network with real people in industry.

Professor Schwarz talk made me realize the importance of perspective and embracing the fact that we as humans need to change and grow. Because our brains are able to constantly rewire, we are able to grow at an exponential rate and understand new circumstances, and places ourselves in increasingly complicated ones. Dr. Schwarz mentioned the most important traits a successful person embodies; The three Rs: resourcefulness, resolve, and resilience. These three r’s allow us to maintain a dynamic life and constantly grow to fit different circumstances and stages of life. Essentially, as long as we embody the three Rs, we are capable of anything.

Be Intentional and Act With Purpose

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Yesterday evening I had the privilege of sitting in a talk given by the Cornell’s Tennis Head Coach. It was really humbling and incredibly inspiring to hear of the adversity the speaker strived through. Coach Tanasoiu imparted two pieces of advice that he had realized over the years:

1. Be intentional.

2. Fight Adversity.

Ironically enough, I’m unintentionally sitting in bed at five in the morning contemplating life, unable to sleep. As my Mechanical Synthesis class revealed early on in the semester, I am a Myers Briggs -P, which stands for perceiving. It also happens to be synonymous with “questionable time management skills.” As a student involved in many different activities of all shapes and sizes, I’m busy, all the time. However, as a -P, I find myself  working to perfection, ignoring time constraints, until I have everything just right. A rigid schedule is impossible for me. I work to deadlines, and when I’m not working, I’m taking on more tasks to work on.

It was awe inspiring to hear about a student athlete’s schedule and the rigidly intentional schedule they must have in order to be successful. A student athlete not only has to compete to be a good student, but also to play. A student athlete must follow a very strict lifestyle and schedule in order to make all of their deadlines successfully.

While most of us non-athletes are just impressed by student athletes’ athletic abilities, Coach Tanasoiu’s talk brought another one of their merits that isn’t commonly talked about to light: their inhuman ability to juggle two jobs at once. Or as the coach put it, their ability to get a medical degree while working in the military. It’s extremely admirable and I hope that someday I will be able to fight adversity and accomplish more in the mere 24 hours we have every day.

Culture V. Education

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As millennial from a well educated family, growing up in city known for its technological exploits and fluid intelligence, I always thought education was the key to bringing the world together and finding solutions to issues that were curbing human growth and development. As a high schooler, I valued internet as much as I valued food, and I thought that sharing it with every part of the world would solve Earth’s issues of poverty, malnutrition, and disease. I was all for projects like Internet.org.

Over the past two years, in parallel with the political race, I’ve noticed my naïveté. One of the Obama Administration’s goals was to make internet more accessible, and they have accomplished that. 98% of Americans have access to the internet. However, 20% of Americans refuse to use it. Even though internet is accessible to almost all, ignorance is still rampant in America. Some American’s still believe in ancient visualizations of third world countries. Some Americans refuse to believe that the weather is more extreme than it has been in the last century. And some people, myself included, will continue to consume junk foods like Hersey’s chocolate, Cheetos or Coke even though we are well aware of the outrageously detrimental health side effects.

Professor Blalock’s talk on the adoption of cook stoves was altogether very intriguing, surprising, and affirmative. In summary, his research and work showed that culture, upbringing, and tradition won out over education. As a mechanical engineer interested in dedicating her life to the development of underdeveloped countries, I’ve read a lot about organizations who have developed everything from cost effective water purifiers to business opportunities for women. I’ve always wondered why these initiatives haven’t been effective. Is it corruption? Lack of communication or education?

It was extremely powerful to hear first hand about an initiative just like the ones in the articles I’ve read. It was interesting to hear about the process the team used for adoption. It was really interesting to hear the problems they faced. But it was most interesting to hear about the information they gathered from the initiative.

That in order to make new habits, it is vital to make new traditions first.

The thrill of sliding on a surface with a low coefficient of friction

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Shortly after I posted the picture above, my high school physics teacher commented: “Be careful on ice….It has a very low coefficient of friction and the force of impacting solid H2O can ruin careers.” The warning seems obvious, and yet as humans we choose to ignore these warning signs and seek thrill in doing dangerous acts. In fact, once I had gotten comfortable on the ice, my gut was seeking about other risks that I might find trilling. Fortunately, the SA leading the program was a figure skater, and had planned to teach us some tricks, if we were up for the challenge. Since I was comfortable on two skates, I really enjoyed the challenge. I learned how to skate backwards, and even with one foot. And I enjoyed every moment of the challenge.

Why is it that human nature leads some of us to finding pleasure in taking risks and trill in challenges? For some reason I start to think of the affects of an adrenaline rush on other hormonal balances when I try to answer that question. But I’ll leave that discussion to the biologists.

The Origins of Rap

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We never covered modern culture in American during history class. I knew little about the NWA, Dr. Dre, and Ice Cube. In fact, everything I did know was through my involvement in the hip hop dance community. It’s an interesting coincidence that a BreakFree Hip Hop performance at the Cornell Cinema led me to attend the Rose Scholars event.

Straight Outta Compton incited many feelings about the horrors of stereotyping, bias, and not being able to move up in the world. While I grew up in a well of neighborhood that was not very diverse, the dance community, and my families ties people of all cultural backgrounds, kept me extremely open minded. Knowing that a couple of my close friends are actually straight out of Compton, or a locality alike, it made me very angry that we did not learn about police brutality, the makeup of such neighborhoods, and what life is like, when we learned about black history. This is very real to the black community, and it is really horrible that the only way a major population of the US can become aware of the issues that were and are prevalent is through a Hollywood movie. And many millennial did not even watch the movie, so they have exposure to these ideas. Most of my peers refused to watch it because they were “not into rap.” As a millennial, it really frustrates me when I meet close minded people. However, many things in society and media are not conducive to open mindedness. If American’s are not shown different cultures, traditions, and real images from history, they will not be able to develop an open mind.