Unlike the seminars we usually have where a guest speaker would just talk to us about the topic they were presenting, this seminar was much more discussion based. Cornell aluma Chantelle Farmer spoke about her path of being an ORIE major at Cornell Engineering, working at start ups, going back to Cornell to getting a Masters in CS, and to finally opening a gym. She spoke about how much the OR major changed since she’s been in school. Back then, the major had an emphasis in Industrial Engineering, so students learned a lot about factories. The major doesn’t focus on factories anymore. She also explained the importance of going back to school to learn about CS because the field was up and coming. I thought it was very impressive and bold of her to take a job at Ithaca College to be the Webmaster even though she had no idea what the job entailed because the World Wide Web was still a very new concept. Ms. Farmer explained that her engineering didn’t prepare for her to solve differential equations in the real world, but instead it taught her how to think, ask questions, and problem solve. She stressed the importance of her education here but also how working at start ups allowed her to learn the ropes of starting a business.

After having a friend point out the lack of group fitness in Ithaca, she decided to start her own business with her interest in spinning, education in data analysis/ CS, and work experience with start ups. One of my biggest fears of being an engineer is narrowing my career to be strictly STEM related. Ms. Farmer brought up a very refreshing perspective about how engineering teaches you how to problem solve, while our liberal arts expands our horizons.

I had also never thought about the importance and influence of a group fitness facility for a community. This past summer, an iLoveKickboxing gym opened by my apartment in NYC. My dad instantly signed the family up because I had been talking about wanting to learn kickboxing for years. Our family instantly made neighborhood friends we hang out with at least once a week after classes. Even though we were friendly with neighbors and local store owners, my parents didn’t really have many neighborhood friends they would hang out with regularly. Although I noticed this difference, I didn’t put much thought into this until Ms. Farmer and Professor Fontaine brought up how there was a correlation between Sunday church attendance and the growth of group fitness centers. People used to go to church for religious purposes but it also served as a gathering place. Nowadays, people have group fitness centers where they go through a rigorous workout and get food together after. Ms. Farmer and Professor Fontaine also brought up how working out together lets you see everyone in their “rawest” form and how it “evens the plane fields.” I think this makes sense because when you work out, it’s harder to differentiate between people based on societal imposed categories. People don’t have makeup or their professional attire to separate them.