Author Archives: na357

What Does it Take to Be a Strong Leader?

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This semester, I decided to explore leadership more deeply. I took a three-credit course called Foundations of Leadership. In honor of the course ending, I attended this Rose Scholars event to compare and contrast the lessons learned through this course to the lessons learned from this event. I was excited to discover similarities in the characteristics of good leaders explored during this event and the ones introduced in this course.

My leadership course and this seminar emphasized the importance of vision, an openness to learning, and an alignment with values. Both the lectures throughout the course I took and this seminar introduced other characteristics of good leaders as well. However, I have chosen to focus on discussing these ones here. Also, to avoid redundancy and confusing syntax, I will refer to my hypothetical leader as “her.”

A leader with a strong vision motivates her mission and centralizes the people she works with. A vision provides a clear path and description of an ideal future for her team and offers a goal for her and her team to strive toward. When I think of vision I often think of Elon Musk and the startups he leads. For instance, SpaceX’s mission is to make mankind multiplanetary. This vision is beyond a single person and has helped motivate the engineers who work for him. He emphasizes this vision by mounting paintings of mankind on Mars visiting the largest volcano in the solar system (Olympus Mons) and touring other sites on Mars on the walls of SpaceX’s development sites. These images and his vision are so powerful that they inspire others to wonder about his work and imagine futures that were previously unimaginable. This is a clear example of a strong vision.

An openness to learning allows a leader to be adaptable, to choose the best (not necessarily the initial) path, and to grow both herself and the mission that she is leading. I remember one of my computer science projects in CS 3410 pushed me to be open to learning. My partner and I had worked intensely for several days to build a fully pipelined RISC-V processor for our third project. We decided to attend midnight office hours before the project was due to double check our work. About five minutes before the office hours were over, I noticed another group had mentioned something about one specific implementation not working. Even though I really did not want to ask about the problem (because it was midnight, and I wanted to submit our work as the project was due the next day), I did. It turned out that our implementation would not have passed a very specific test case. This problem was discovered in a past office hour session. Despite the late time and the work we had already put into our project, my partner and I were open to learning how to fix the bug. We stayed up all night modifying the processor so that it worked, and we successfully turned in our project and earned a very high score. If we had not been open to learning about a new implementation and had stuck with our initial one, we may have failed several test cases. Our path was much more difficult than turning in what we had, but we had to be adaptable if we wanted to produce a product that truly worked. Our teamwork and decisions demonstrated our openness to learning and how this adaptability and quick turnaround can lead to success in both teamwork and good leadership.

Finally, alignment is an important characteristic of leadership. What this means is that a leader makes decisions that are aligned with her values and hires people/chooses people to work with who also believe in those values. This idea stems from the concept of vision. Both the leader and her teammates should somehow be invested in the mission and the values upheld by the project. This helps the team produce the most genuine and successful product and inspires powerful motivation and true interest in the success of the project.

These are my opinions on leadership I developed after the seminar. I enjoyed comparing and contrasting what I had learned in my course to the lessons learned in the seminar. I also really liked choosing my most important values during the card sort activities.

~ Wandering Through Book Aisles ~

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I love wandering through book aisles and selecting stories and manuals to skim through. I find that old book shops and used book sales are some of the most interesting events to attend. In high school I was a book worm. I would read everything from fantasies to realistic fiction to magazines about gardening to manuals about architecture. What sparked my curiosity was the starkly different stories, messages, and realities each book contained. Ever since leaving high school, I have lost the time I used to spend reading. As a result, I appreciated the opportunity to explore books again offered by this Rose Scholars event.

During our visit, I explored the fiction, short story, gardening, and computer book sections. I enjoyed skimming through a wide variety of books. In particular, I liked that the book sale was for used books. Often these sales offer a quirkier and more interesting variety of books than bookstores do.

I ended up buying a book of short stories presented on the Moth Radio Hour. The Moth is a famous radio show that allows people to tell their stories to others. I really enjoy listening to the wide variety of hilarious, powerful, and inspiring stories told through this show, and I was surprised and excited to find this book at the sale. I am looking forward to reading it this summer.

I also read through many interesting computer books at the sale. Several of these books were about how to use the Linux operating system, learn different coding languages, and use several interesting and useful software resources. I thought it was cool how the book sale did not just include books meant to tell stories but also practical books such as these.

When I return home, I would like to explore my local used book sale after enjoying attending this one so much. Overall, from this experience I learned about this annual book sale in Ithaca (which I may attend in future years) and about the value in attending used book sales versus traditional book stores or online book stores. I am also very happy I left the event with a new and exciting read for this summer!

Entrepreneurship at Cornell

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As a result of this Rose Scholars activity, I was lucky enough to experience one weekend full of exciting entrepreneurship discussions, talks, and events. The Cornell Entrepreneurship Conference introduced me to the strong and active entrepreneurship culture at Cornell. I met passionate graduate students starting a plethora of different innovative and exciting businesses developing products pushing boundaries in several fields.

My favorite event was the final startup competition winner ceremony and showcase. Because I want to protect the products developed by the graduate students, I would prefer not to discuss the innovations in detail here. Instead I will provide a broader description of the particular startups I really liked.

One student is creating a new spin on coffee using healthy and tasty foreign herbs. I got to sample her coffee as well as learn about her experience as a business graduate student at Cornell. I enjoyed trying out her product and learning about her background and process in developing her product.

Another student is developing an exciting new tech platform to help users gain money with very little additional work. I thought her platform was creative, innovative, and intriguing. I really enjoyed discussing her product with her and learning about how she came up with such a clever idea.

Overall, through this event I learned about Cornell’s startup culture, the creative and technical processes involved in starting a company, and the backgrounds of several Cornell University business students. I also learned about Cornell’s business graduate student program and the career opportunities available as a result of pursuing a degree through this program.

Have You Thought About Graduate School Yet?

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Lately I have been thinking about graduate school. As a computer science major, I have also been wondering about entering industry right after obtaining my undergraduate degree. Cornell also offers the Masters of Engineering degree, which is another option I could pursue. With all these ideas lingering in the back of my mind, I decided to attend this seminar on graduate school in hopes of finding some clarity.

I really enjoyed learning about graduate students’ experiences at Cornell. I was surprised to learn how important teaching is to Cornell’s graduate school student program. Before attending this event I did not know that Masters of Computer Science students at Cornell receive a stipend and free tuition as well as T.A. for undergraduate courses. This option seems really exciting as I deeply enjoy learning and teaching others, and I have enjoyed my time studying at Cornell. After the seminar, I explored this idea further.

From the seminar I learned about other graduate students’ experiences at Cornell. I really appreciated learning about the chemical engineering graduate student program. This is because I am in the College of Engineering, and these experiences are relevant to my career path. I enjoyed learning about the programs Cornell offers to students studying fields related to the humanities. If I do plan and am accepted as a graduate student at Cornell, I would like to take courses across both disciplines (engineering and humanities).

Overall, this seminar did provide clarity and opened my eyes to new opportunities for graduate school and my career that I had not explored previously.

A Trip Down Sunset Boulevard

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Sunset Boulevard is a classic Film Noir movie that is haunting, engaging, and at times difficult to watch. Before this Rose Scholars event, I had never seen the film despite its popularity. I enjoyed pondering the messages and warnings about Hollywood stardom introduced in the film.

In particular, I was intrigued by the character and villain Norma Desmond. Her role as a past silent movie actress unwilling to let go of her young fame emphasized Hollywood’s focus on youth and image. The film’s portrayal of Norma as narcissistic and crazy unveiled the dangers of being consumed by Hollywood’s image-focused side.

However, I noticed another character that introduced hope for Hollywood. Betty is also a character in the movie who is young, passionate, and straight-forward. I interpreted her as Norma’s foil and as a symbol of hope for Hollywood’s transformation. I appreciated her honesty, genuineness, and true passion for film.

I enjoyed the film and learning about the clearly developed and meaningful characters. In particular, I was captivated by the haunting last scene in which Norma Desmond deliriously speaks straight to the cameras after killing the main character. This scene left me to reflect on Hollywood’s sometimes materialistic treatment of actors, actresses, and screenwriters. When watching films in the future I will question my focus on image and the film’s focus on image.

On the other hand, through Betty’s character the film also underscored the potential honesty, genuineness, and passion a film can portray. I appreciated this hope and left the film hopeful that Hollywood will mirror Betty’s personality more closely rather than Norma’s in the future.

A Movie I Wanted to Love

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I have been intrigued by the potential for mankind to reach Mars and become multiplanetary. My interest in space travel emerged after reading a plethora of articles on SpaceX and mankind’s history and relationship with space. Also, as a computer science major, after watching trailers for the 2001 film “A Space Odyssey” and learning about Hal, the artificially intelligent supercomputer in the film, I naturally decided to attend this Rose Scholars Event.

I wanted to love it.

The cinematography was captivating and breathtaking, but the plot was difficult to follow. From watching scenes of apes to large monoliths, I had trouble weaving together the different pieces of the film. While still being confused by the end of the film, I questioned my perspective: why can I not fully enjoy a classic film that means so much for so many fans? In an attempt to hopefully discover a true appreciation for the film, I did some research afterward to learn about its context and meaning.

I “Sparknoted” the film and read about its background. The plot is from 1968 and is complex and involves many interwoven but different storylines and scenes. I realized had I watched the 1968 version or read about the film beforehand, it may have been easier to enjoy the film. I then proposed that it is likely fans who enjoyed the 2001 version of the Space Odyssey had watched and enjoyed the old 1968 film beforehand.

In the future, I would like to watch previous versions of renovated films before attending the theaters or viewing newer versions at home. It would be intellectually interesting to compare and contrast older films with newer ones. I would also be able to follow and fully appreciate the newer versions and identify any changes made due to new technology.

Overall, I am happy I got to learn about a classic film, and I appreciated that we viewed the film in Willard Straight Hall at Cornell Cinema as I had never been there before this visit.

? To Question My Ethics ?

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This was by far my favorite Rose Scholars event. During the event we watched part of a classic detective movie. In particular, we watched a scene in which a lawyer potentially convinced a client to alter his story. Although the lawyer did not explicitly persuade his client to do so, his actions and body language implied he was. We discussed the controversy with Judge Scott Miller who graduated from Cornell Law School. He asked us if we thought the scene displayed a breach of the law.

Multiple peers explained that it did not because the maneuver was not explicit. While I understand that the move was not explicit, I believe it did breach the lawyer’s code of conduct. While watching the film, the lawyer’s body language and dialogue suggested that his client should change his story to make the case more reasonable. This means had the lawyer not pursued these moves, the client may have presented the judge with a different story. I, thus, believe that these actions tainted the pure truth from being presented in court and could have meaningfully affected the outcome of the trial.

Judge Scott Miller also described his past experiences throughout his career dealing with cases in which he had to question his ethics and make decisions that tested them. In particular, he mentioned one of his clients completely changed her story when he was working with her. He had to believe her new story despite the stark difference between her new story and her old one. Judge Miller also explained that his job was particularly difficult when clients did not reveal the entire truth behind their cases. Sometimes he or other lawyers found out information that he was unaware of about his clients. This prevented him from being able to fully represent his clients.

Listening to Scott Miller’s stories and learning about the trial of personal ethics experienced throughout a lawyer’s career was truly intriguing. I really enjoyed learning about how Judge Miller dealt with these cases and his take on the movie. I would like to take at least one law-based course at Cornell after this Rose Scholars event. This was my favorite Rose Scholars event because it provided a multi-dimensional experience involving discussion, film, interesting questions, and real experiences.

After the event, I reflected on my personal ethics and questioned my thoughts on the actions of characters in the films I watched. From this event I not only learned about Judge Scott Miller’s background, but I also learned to pay attention to the decisions that people and characters make in reality and in film and to compare them with decisions I would make under my own values. This will help me better understand and further develop my values in the future and learn more about how lawyers think.

Spin Like an Engineer!

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I have always been a health and fitness aficionado. I love kale smoothies, yoga classes, and trying new healthy foods at Wegmans. I am also in the College of Engineering and interested in business. Naturally, I signed up for this Rose Scholars event: a spin class led by a previous Cornell engineer who started a fitness studio in Ithaca.

Spinning is a form of exercise that involves stationary biking (effective for improving cardio). The class was held in a dark room with energizing music and colorful lights. The owner led the class and biked with us throughout the hour of spinning. The lights and the dynamic music were motivational. I loved how the instructor set up the music to mirror the difficulty of each set of exercises we did. During each set, she described an experience that corresponded to the difficulty of that set. For instance, when she instructed us to increase the resistance on our bikes, she matched her request with a description of a monumental hill we were about to surmount. I really enjoyed imagining the scenes she described and working through each challenge she set in front of us. Her class provided a truly motivational experience.

I also appreciated that the group of Rose Scholars attending this event were also engaged in the activity. I felt as if we were a team facing an athletic challenge together. This component of the class was also very motivating and exciting. In the future, I would like to attend fitness classes like this one with other people rather than by myself. I typically attend yoga and spinning classes without any friends, but this experience has inspired me to invite others to join me. I never knew how motivating exercising with peers could be.

I also would like to attend more spinning classes in the future. Seeing a Cornell engineer pursue a career completely different from what she studied at college was also interesting and opened new ideas for my personal career path in the future.

Nanette ~ Hilarious, Shocking, Emotional

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Hilarious! Shocking. Emotional.

Hannah Gadsby’s performance in Nanette presents a powerful story emphasizing LGBTQ perspectives and revealing the dark reality behind the state of women’s rights throughout history. Her control of tone and the weight of her material captured my attention and almost brought me to tears throughout the film.

At times I laughed only to hold my breath at another moment and swallow away knots in my throat. Gadsby includes intriguing stories about art history and women’s rights throughout the film as well. She unveils the appalling behavior of famous artists toward women. In particular, her story about Picasso shocked me. He had abused women and supported misogyny throughout his life, yet all I ever knew about him was his role in introducing cubism to the art world.

Gadsby’s personal anecdotes about being mistreated and harmed due to her gender and her sexuality were the most powerful components of her story. It was difficult but captivating to hear her experiences with misogyny and feminism throughout her life. At times she would yell or speak in a broken whisper. Her control of the audience’s emotions and her powerful stories were inspiring.

At the end of the film, Gadsby declares her decision to leave comedy. She exclaims that her anger is not an emotion she wants to spread. This dramatic ending left me in emotional turmoil. Her performance was gripping, funny, and raw. Her leaving comedy left a footprint on the field and immortalized her story and her message.

I left the film still pondering the painful and powerful anecdotes she illustrated. I highly recommend this film, and I am grateful I was lucky enough to experience Hanna Gadsby’s last comedic performance. In the future I plan to more deeply explore women’s roles when studying history and famous male figures. I will also look into more material by this comedian.