Author Archives: Firehiwot Gurara

Shakespeare’s Imagination on Sexuality

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This Thursday, I watched a pseudo-theater based on William Shakespeare’s Twelfth night. I said “pseudo” because the theater was actually done at National Theater in London; we watched the recorded version at Cinemapolis. In my opinion, the Twelfth night is far ahead of its time in term of the idea it presented in relation to sexuality. We are in the 21st century and yet this issue still raises controversy among the wider society. I was amazed to see that Shakespeare’s imagination was four hundred years ahead of his time. However, this doesn’t mean that homosexuality did not exist at the time, but it was not acceptable in the society as it was presented in the theater. It was also a romantic comedy theater which made it fun to watch.

Viola was the main character who pretended to be a boy like her twin brother Sebastian, whom she thought had died in a shipwreck, to work for the Duke she loved.  She became the Duke’s messenger to the Countess he loved, Olivia. Ironically, both Oliva and the Duke fell in love with the messenger. The Duke is confused as he finds out that he was attracted to a “boy” (Viola). It turned out that Sebastian was alive, and he later comes and marries the Countess while the Duke marries Viola. My favorite and most fun character to watch was Malvolia, the steward of Olivia’s household. It was interesting to see how she emerged from being a very strict and perfectionist woman to someone who is vulnerable when she found out from a fake letter that Olivia loved her. The letter was written by Maria who also worked for Olivia to take revenge on her. During Shakespeare’s time, it was men who played both the women’s and the men’s part. This theater was different because some of the characters from the original theater changed their gender.

Bread and Roses

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Bread and Roses clearly depicts the life of the illegal immigrant and the low income community in the United States. People don’t leave their family and home land out of luxury; it is mostly a matter of finding “Bread” that will make their families’ and their own lives better. However, life in the U.S.A is a catch-22 because there are economic, social, educational and language barriers that hinder economic mobility. Minimum or maybe less than minimum wage jobs are the starting point for most immigrant families.

The movie mainly focuses on janitorial workers from the Latino and African American community, who in my opinion are the “invisible” workers in many industries. It also shows how women and illegal immigrants are at risk of being abused in their work environment since their choices are often limited because of their status or family responsibilities. The janitors finally formed a union that will ensure that they get health insurance, holiday pays and sick leave. The union not only ensured that they were receiving the “bread” they deserved, but also restored their “Roses”, dignity as human beings. The most important lesson I learned from the movie is that, as someone who started her life in the U.S with similar jobs and who now has the privilege of being educated, to be observant of my work environment and question any unfair treatment of people based on their identity, economic and social status.

The 85 Ways to Tie a Tie

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Last week, I attended an event related to professional attire. One of the activities during the event was learning how to tie neckties and bow ties. Most of the attendees didn’t know how to do it. I was surprised to find out there are actually 85 ways to tie a tie!  In the late 1990s, two researchers Thomas Fink and Yong Mao of Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory used mathematical modeling to discovered eighty five possible types of knots using a conventional type of tie. Tie knots can be described a s a sequence of five possible moves: left (L), center(C) right(R), into (i), out (o), and through the loop(T). A tie knot can be defined a s a sequence of moves using a combination of the 6 possible moves such as left in, left out, right in, right out, center in  and center out. All knot sequences end with center out and alternate between in and out, all knots of odd numbers of moves begin with left out, and the even numbers of moves begin with left in. Therefore, the shape of a knot depends on the number of right, left and center moves. For instance, here is the step you need to follow if you are using the four-in –hand method knot:

  • Bring the wide end to the left and either over or under the narrow and divide the space into right, left and center regions
  • The knot is moved in half turns so that the direction alternates between out of and into the shirt.
  • The wide end is then wrapped from the right (left) over the front to the left(right) underneath to the center
  • Finally it is brought through (T) making the front loop as shown below

Enjoy practicing!

 

Tai Chi Vs Taekwondo

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Last week I saw a documentary movie about a great master, Cheng Man-Ching, who brought Tai Chi to the Western world. I don’t have much knowledge about Tai Chi, but I have heard a lot about Taekwondo. I was curious to know the difference between the two types of martial arts. Here is what I have found.

Taekwondo is grouped under hard martial arts because it emphasizes on kicking and striking techniques. Training involves punching, kicking, jumping, and blocking. Tai chi on the other hand is considered as soft and internal martial art. It emphasizes on stability and involves rhythmic and relaxed movements (moving meditation) which involve redirecting and countering techniques. It helps to improve sleep, balance and cardiovascular health. Similar health benefits could also be acquired from Taekwondo. Tai chi is considered as non-aggressive martial arts while Taekwondo is aggressive since its main purpose is to build defense skills that will help during a fight.

Eisenhower Vs Kennedy

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Before watching the comedy movie Dr. Strangelove, we had a small discussion about the foreign policy in the United States during the cold war. GRF Tyler was comparing Eisenhower and Kennedy Era which were two different approaches of handling the battle between the United States and Soviet Union during the cold war.

President Eisenhower was the president of the U.S from 1953-1961. He was considered as a progressive conservative. He was very much focused on foreign and military policy. His presidency was also dominated by the cold war and the confrontation with Russia. The U.S also developed a global nuclear power which is the main theme that is shown in Dr. Strangelove as there was a big tension between the U.S and Soviet Union. He supported mutually assured destruction (MAD) which he called “massive retaliation”, which supported equal or greater attack against Soviet Union. He was also supporting countries in Middle East and Latin America that stood against communism.

The successor of Eisenhower was Kennedy (1961-1963) who is known for establishing peach corps, Nuclear Test Ban treaty and the space race. During his time there was also tension with communist states. He tried to combat communism from being accepted in third world countries through peaceful ways. Unlike Eisenhower, he was more flexible with his foreign policy and used informal negotiations and bureaucracy to stop communism.

Technology and Mad Max

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Watching “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome” made me think how much technology impacts our lives. The main plot is about a man (Max) who exiled to a desert and ended up in an area where Boeing 747 crashed. The children who were survivors of the accident were left in the oasis desert by their parents. They were desperate to go back to fly to their home land and live in civilization. However, they weren’t able to fly back home since they had no one to fix the air plane. They thought that Max will take them to the civilized world that they saw in the pictures left by their parents which have sky scrapers and bright cities. Personally, the main take away from the movie was appreciation of the technology that we take for granted these days and using them effectively for the common good. I am not surprised that this 1985 movie was chosen over the current movies. I definitely encourage you to watch it over the break!

The 1971 Attica Prison Uprising

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History is a reflection of the past and a compass that helps us to predict what will happen in the future. Blood in the water is a very sad historical incidents that happened in Attica prison on September 13, 1971. It was one of those stories that were left under the table until Dr. Heather Thompson dug the truth for 13 years to bring the story to Americans and the entire world. The prisoners at the time protested and took over the prison for four days demanding better conditions and facilities from the New York state government. Instead of dealing with the prisoners in a peaceful way, the government rather sent armed forces who sprayed tear gas and killed around 151 hostages. I was amazed to hear that that the president of the time, Richard Nixon, instead of addressing the issue and holding the governors accountable, he rather said “Was this black business?” This incident was a reflection of human right violation and racial injustice in the United States.

What struck me the most was to find out that the wives of the men who were killed were given stipends. Unfortunately, when signing the papers to take the money, they were rather signing a contract to not question the officials about the death of their loved ones. I consider this no different from a double murder.

Even now people who live near in Attica believe that the prisoners killed the hostages instead of the armed police officers. However, the true story is what Dr. Thompson has presented. She believes“Attica justifies injustice” in the U.S criminal system. I hope her book can lead to more questions that help to improve the current prison conditions.

“Key Words”

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“Who do you think will read you application first when you apply for jobs?” Dr. Hill brought up this question at the beginning of the personal statement workshop. Most of us including myself thought of recruiters, managers or maybe interns. Sadly, that is not the case. Most applications rather go through a computer system that identifies specific key words related to a job. That is why many people who apply for jobs get rejected for not including the key words that will let them pass through the first stage of the application screening process. I was also impressed to find out that a recruiter spends less than 10 seconds going over an application. Can you imagine how difficult it could get to let the recruiter pick your application especially if there are hundreds of them piled on their desk?

The key lessons that I learned during the workshop are to pay attention to detail, and look for what the company, educational institution or scholarship office is looking for instead of my own interest. That is also when key words become important. This requires spending time researching about the place or opportunity that one is applying for. In addition, the level of attention to detail matters a lot to the extent that how one names their file when they submit a resume (should include Name, position of interest, year…) or whether or not they submit a word/pdf file or fulfilled the maximum word limit in their personal statement affects their chance of admission. In order to be successful in the application, it is also very important to ask for suggestion from other people and START EARLY!

Cover Letters

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For many of us finding a job could be a tedious and stressful process. It may seem difficult to stand out among thousands of applicants who are also competing for the same position. Especially, if one is applying for big companies the process can even be more challenging. It may also be difficult to impress a recruiter who is looking for a candidate that is close to an ideally best employee. Resume and cover letter are our main tools to stand out in this job hunting process.
A lot has been said about writing good resumes, but I haven’t heard much about cover letters. Personally, I think writing a cover letter can be challenging since one has to explain why s/he is the best fit for a position. It may even be hard for many college students who don’t have much work experience. Cynthia and Shiv shared some tips to use in one’s cover letter. For instance, if one knows different languages and for some reason wants a position in a company that develops software, they can explain their ability to learn and use different languages in their letter. It is also good to gather more information about the company and ask questions. In case if you don’t want the company to recognize your email, create and use a job email account. Mentioning high school experience may also be fine if it relates to the specific position one is looking for.  One should also make sure that there are no syntax errors in the letter and of course, most importantly, DOUBLE CHECK IF YOU WROTE THE COMPANY NAME CORRECTLY!

Below are more concise tips shared by Cynthia and Shiv

 

  • DO make sure you use proper salutations (e.g. “Dear Mr./Dr./Ms. So-and-so”) and closings (e.g. “Respectfully,” or “Sincerely”).
  • DO spell-check and have someone else read your letter to check for typos, mis-used words, unclear phrasings.  There is nothing worse than applying for a position – where attention to detail is necessary – and sending in a letter full of mistakes!
  • DO be creative about how your experience is valuable for something the company/organization/institution seeks, but DON’T inflate your ability to do something to the point that you are not being accurate!
  • DO be specific about how your experiences have shaped your perspective/offer some insight to the field/meet the expectations of that company/organization/institution.  
  • DO be positive about what you can offer and if there is something you lack from the list of requirements, you can address it via the experiences you do have.
  • DO seek out on-campus resources available to you as well.  Cornell’s Career Services offer walk-in help as well as practice with mock interviews (http://www.career.cornell.edu/about/come-see-us.cfm)

Good Luck!