I appreciate Professor Blalock coming in to share the history of West Campus. From learning about the beginnings of West Campus as a Oxford/Cambridge esque community for the men of Cornell to how the current buildings were built in the 2000s, there’s a lot of history that we encounter just during our day-to day as West Campus residents. There were a lot of facts and tidbits that I had no idea of. For instance, the engravings on Founders Hall are a call back to the university’s initial desire to make West Campus look more like Oxford/Cambridge. Even the things I did know about had more layers that I was unaware of. For example, I knew of and walked by the Lyon Hall Memorial constantly, but I hadn’t been aware that every room in Lyon was dedicated to at least one war veteran. I had just assumed that the war memorial was just another isolated part of Lyon that had nothing to do with the rest of the building. Professor Blalock also mentioned stuff about the U-halls, which were the residential buildings that existed between the original buildings and the current modern ones, and had some facts about the current residential homes, such as the fact that the modern West Campus houses were one of the few that weren’t named after large donors. All in all, it was very informative and insightful and gave me a better understanding of the whole area.
Author Archives: Sharon
Stretching Out Before Finals
I might have my own mat, but I have a hard time doing yoga on my own. That’s why I decided to come to the yoga class last week. I had a good time stretching out my body right before finals went into full swing. I liked the variety of the poses shown, there was more than just the standard sun salutation. We completed side twists, something else, etc. The instructor was nice, paced the class at a speed that I could follow, and understood that sometimes a break was necessary, and recommended sitting or child’s pose instead of some of the more difficult poses. It was calming to focus on something other than looming finals. I don’t exercise nearly as much as I would like, but this class has inspired me to take out my mat and use it for its intended purpose rather than for lying down on the floor.
The Methods Behind Sushi
The sushi demonstration was very informative. I knew that there were rules and regulations to how the food is consumed, but I didn’t come to this event expecting to learn so much. Chef Jeremy rolled three different types of sushi while explaining how the food is properly constructed so that it doesn’t fall apart. I wasn’t aware of all the components of what makes quality sushi. The rice, fish, seaweed, etc. have to be of premium quality in order for the sushi to even stay together. No wonder it’s so expensive. I also learned about how the placement of the vegetables and fish plays a role in sushi rolling, and that the specific shape is molded. I appreciate Chef Jeremy’s knowledge and willingness to educate us about all the work that goes into this craft. This was an unique event and I came out of it knowing so much more about the rolls I love eating.
Giving Back vs Giving Forward
I had done a lot of volunteering work in high school, most of it so that I could get into then remain in honor societies. This kind of mindless punching of volunteer hours tainted my view of the whole thing; having community service as a meritocracy undermined to whole idea of helping others simply because it’s the right thing to do. With this prior perception of volunteering, I went into this seminar hoping that it could answer the question posed as the event’s title: what’s the point? Certainly the point wasn’t so that students could have something nice to put on their resume, whether it be the volunteering itself or the organizations that allowed them to join. The exercise that stuck out to me was the one where each of us wrote on the board what the concept of “giving back” and giving forward” meant. It seemed that the concept of volunteering as “giving back” was led by a love of the community; giving back to the place you were raised so that others might have similar opportunities that you did. The reasons for giving forward were a little more varied. They ranged from inspiring others to do the same (pay it forward) to a desiring to see a change in the world. Giving back is more about gratitude for the past, and giving forward is about giving hope for the future.
Realistic Portrayals of Depression
A big thing that hit me about A Man Called Ove was the fact that,even when things are going okay or better than usual, he’s one bad event away from suicide. Ove’s grief for his wife is always present, but what drives him to make attempts on his life are isolated events, like being laid off. This was more prominent in the later part of the film. Ove bonds with his new neighbors and reconnects with some of his old ones, but reaches for his gun when he finds out that his friend will be moved to a nursing home. This issue is eventually sorted out, with the help of a reporter, but the ease with which Ove loses what hope he gained feels realistic.
All that aside, I found Ove to be a very relatable character. His actions reminded me of my own crankiness and strict adherence to rules. Fortunately, I don’t have his tragic background, but seeing some of my qualities reflected in him helped me connect and engage more with the story. There’s also something entertaining about him and Rook chasing people through the complex, or him pulling out a notebook to inform Rook’s wife that they borrowed his hose and he wants it back. For a movie about depression and suicide, there are a lot of heartwarming and light moments, which I think is important. Being depressed isn’t necessarily about being stuck in dark and gloomy headspace all the time.
Creating Collages
The art workshop was a great time to relax and have fun collaging with maps. I mostly draw, so it was fun to try another medium that I haven’t used for a long time. I was somewhat surprised by the relatively small number of people who had come to this event, considering that the Johnson Museum art events tended to be pretty popular, but that was probably due to the timing of this event. Every piece was different, and could be interpreted differently. For instance, I chose to interpret another person’s piece as advocating against ocean pollution, but she didn’t create with that intent in mind. Art, after all, means different things to different people. It also doesn’t have to be made to make a statement or advocate for a specific cause. Art can simply be made for the artist. All the different and creative ways people used maps (our one requirement) was also interesting. I arranged maps to look like a long scarf being knit, where other people utilized the different places and colors to tell their own story.
Meeting with Musicians
Meeting Gabor Csalog and Tony Arnold was a unique experience, but I feel like I didn’t really understand much of what they were talking about. I’m not sure whether it was because the dining room was too loud to clearly hear anything, or it was because it had been a while since I had picked up an instrument, but I had a hard time understanding any of what they were saying. There was some background on how they met each other and some talk about the pieces they were performing were written for specific singers. One good piece of advice I gleaned was the idea that no matter how good you are, there’s always someone better than you. As a mediocre violin player in my high school orchestra, I had resigned myself to this fate, but it was encouraging to hear that these professional musicians with years of experience always found that there was someone ahead of them. I also found it interesting that Tony had started relatively late in her singing career but didn’t find this a detriment; this was also inspiring.
How Personal Values Fit into Leadership
When we started the Leadership seminar the first thing that GRF Sam did was hand out cards with valued printed on them; such values included Kindness, Genuineness, and Friendship. He then instructed us to organize these values into three piles: very important, important, and not very important, and to choose the five most important values. It was difficult to pick out five of the most important values; I kept modifying my initial list until only one original value remained. We discussed how these values change throughout our lives and situations. We then split up into two groups to talk about what values make a good leader. We included openness and work ethic but I was initially surprised how quickly authority was shot down. People explained that it created an unequal power dynamic, which could be detrimental to group work and leadership as it could limit openness to new ideas from non-leaders. Working with the cards was a interesting way of showing how leadership values can either run parallel to our own personal values, or against them. The level of interaction was welcome surprise from what I had assumed was going to be a power point on effective leadership.
Romanticizing Vigilantes
There are a few differences between the movie V for Vendetta and the comics that it was based on, the most significant one being that V’s actions are portrayed in a far more sympathetic in the movie rather than the comics. In the comics, V was seen as much more of an chaotic anarchist, whereas the movies portrayed him more as a charismatic vigilante fighting a righteous battle against a tyrannical government (which was less obviously evil in the source material). This was compounded by the fact that the movie chose to make the relationship between Evey and V one of romance; the comics instead paired off Evey with Gordon. Why did the movies choose to portray the characters in a far more starker contrast? It’s clear that we’re meant to vouch for V and his terrorist attacks, crippling the corrupt-beyond-redemption Norsefire organization. The only sympathetic character in Norsefire is Eric Finch and even he, after the shocking discovery that Norsefire was directly responsible for the virus that decimated Britain, turns his back on the government, allowing Evey to destroy the Parliament building. Perhaps the audience wouldn’t have been able to enjoy the moral ambiguity in the relatively short span of a movie viewing.