The creative workshop was a fun chance to work with a new and interesting medium. I loved the idea of using maps to create works of art. I had a lot of fun experimenting with an interesting new medium, and using the maps to represent myself and things that are important to me. It was also interesting to talk to the artist about their jobs, which they all seemed very passionate about. I love the mural that they put up in the dining hall is beautiful and I think it was a great fit for the wall. It was interesting to listen to the artists themselves explain the concept and meaning behind the work. This was a really fun Rose event.
Author Archives: mch284
Ancient Binge Drinking
The Micheal Fontaine Cafe was unexpectedly fascinating. I wasn’t sure what to expect from a discussion about binge drinking. However, the history and culture behind the phenomenon was so interesting, and it was discussed in an engaging and entertaining way. I never realized the extent to which drinking shaped the development of society in the ancient world. The examples of art and literature depicting drinking was so vivid, and it mimicked scenes of society today. As one of the students who drew one the white board to visualize the garden poem, it was exciting to bring the work to life, and it was a lot of fun. This Cafe was incredibly interesting, and it makes me want to consider taking some Classics courses at Cornell.
Practical Decision Making
As someone who is very indecisive and occasionally struggles with making bigger decisions, I found this seminar very helpful. The methods described by Cheryl Einhorn sounded very useful. It helps think through decision from different angles and helps eliminate bias to help make the best and most responsible decision. It helps you look at the issue from other prospectives, and this is an important and mature approach to making decisions, especially those affecting others. I also enjoyed hearing from a Cornell alum as this school is a connection we all share, and it instantly gave us something to relate to her about. It was interesting to hear her thoughts on her college experience, and her advice about how to use our time at Cornell.
Unique Books
This seminar was very interesting and provided a different way to be creative. I previously had no idea how to go about making books, and the steps were surprisingly straightforward and easy to follow. The results were cute little books that were open to personalization. I loved the examples that the people from Garden Door Press brought in, and each one was unique and creative. I was also very impressed that the small operation runs purely on hand-made books. The workshop was incredibly fun and relaxing, and it is something I would definitely like to try again.
Interview Advice
Last week, I attend the Art of the Interview event, and I found it very helpful. I don’t have a lot of experience with interviewing, and it is certainly a skill I can improve on. Christa Downey offered excellent tips and advice on how to market yourself to potential employers. I have upcoming interviews for summer internships and the strategies will be very helpful. I plan on applying these concepts to my future, and I found this Rose event very interesting and useful.
A New Approach to Prevention
The Rose Cafe with Laura Weiss was really fascinating and gave me a whole new perspective on the issue of sexual violence. While there is no denying that sexual assault is a problem, it is not a problem with an easy solution. The combative approaches that deal with the issue head-on have made little impact on actually preventing sexual assault. I loved the subtle approaches that Laura discussed, and they provided some very inventive ways of making things both safer and fun. By working behind the scenes to make the entire environment more friendly and less dangerous, I think there could be real improvement in the issue of sexual violence. It was refreshing to hear about new ideas that came at the issue from a different angle. Overall, I really enjoyed this event, and it definitely made me think about sexual assault prevention in a new way.
Engineering, Antibiotics, and Resistance
This Wednesday at the Rose Cafe, we learned about how the world of pharmaceuticals and engineering come together to benefit society. As a pre-vet student, I have taken a lot of biology classes, and have been exposed the idea of bacteria and antibiotics before. However, I have never taken any engineering classes and I have never considered the role engineers played in developing drugs. I think it is important to recognize how different fields can come together and offer different skills and ways of thinking. It highlights the importance of teamwork and diverse thinking in the field of science. I was fascinated to learn about the history of antibiotics and the different pieces that made its development possible.
Another interesting topic of the discussion was antibiotic resistance. I think this is a very relevant issue as the development of antibiotics slows. The dangers of an infectious disease that has no cure is scary to think about, and it reminds us of the importance of continuing to research and discover new antibiotics. As was discussed at the Cafe, antibiotics are nowhere near as profitable as cancer research, and this is why advancements in the field have slowed. The future of antibiotics research may depend on federal funding. I think this is an important area of policy to consider, and it should receive more attention. Antibiotic resistance is a problem that could affect us all, but the problems associated with it could be prevented if we return attention to research to keep up with the evolution of bacteria.
Super Bowl by the Numbers
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I went to this event, but it was more interesting than I expected. As a football fan who watches the Super Bowl every year, I was surprised to learn that the number of fellow watchers was over 100 million people. This number was even higher than I expected, and I had never before considered the marketing implications of this. Obviously, advertising is a huge part of the Super Bowl, and I have even met people who only watch the game for the interesting and funny ads. However, I always thought that the price of a Super Bowl ad was enormous. When broken down by person, the cost is really only a couple cents per person. This really put into perspective the mass audience of the Super Bowl and the potential for advertiser that I never thought about before.
My group was discussing the best ways to advertise to this generation during the Super Bowl when the discussion turned to ads using politics to get attention. I personally do not like when ads use politics to sell products. I don’t believe it is their place to comment on certain issues, when their only goal is to make money. In this politically charged world, I think it is unnecessary to have large companies targeting people based on political views. However, I do recognize that it can be very effective for a company to use social commentary to gain consumers. I guess they can’t be blamed for using a marketing strategy that works.
Another interesting part of the event was learning about betting. The number of things that have the potential to be wagered on. I never knew how odds were determined, and while I had heard of “covering the spread,” I never understood how that worked. While I will likely not apply this knowledge of gambling in my own life, I enjoyed learning about it.
Overall, this event was another look at a game I have been familiar with my whole life. I got to see it from other angles, and it showed me a new way to think about football, especially in the NFL.
Night on the Ice
I don’t get the opportunity to go ice skating very often, but when I do, I always have fun. I may have fallen a few times, but I got to hang out with my friends and relax after the first week of classes. I was excited to get the chance to go skating this semester since I did’t have time to go in the fall. It has been a long time since I have been skating, and I had a great time re-learning the skill with my friends.
