The story of one of coach Tanasoiu’s star athletes Bernardo made me realize that sports can be extremely significant in someone’s life even if they are not pursued the sport as a career. Perhaps even more significant, appears to be the impact the coaching and advising staff can have on an individual. As someone who has never been on a high school or college sports team I came into this Rose Cafe with a very limited understanding of the support and resources which a sports team can offer an athlete. Although I don’t intend on picking up a sport any time soon, this talk made me realize that I can transform myself in college and that to do so I need to make use of the many resources that are available to me in the form of counselors, professors, and peers. The path to self-improvement and success is exceptionally difficult, but the key is to keep trying and not give up.
Author Archives: vmt26
Intersection of business and conservation
Prior to this cafe talk I had no idea what a land trust is. Although I still don’t know the specifics of how land trusts work, I realized that they are a kind of organization which focuses on conservation and operates independent of the government. This line of work involves a strong understanding of policy, business, and the economy. While I care greatly about the environment, I don’t know anything about the three aforementioned topics. I was nevertheless intrigued by the topic and inspired by Andy Zepp’s enthusiasm for his work. I also think his journey to this career is interesting because it took him some time to find the right job for him but he seems to have really found his calling. I have some ideas about what I want to do after graduation, but his experience really illustrates how we continued growing and searching until we find something which sticks.
My main take aways from this talk were that I want to engage with nature in this region more (and definitely check out gofingerlakes.org to get an idea of which specific locations to check out), that there are major conservation efforts going on all around me that I am unaware of and which make a large and tangible positive impact, and that I never realized that there were careers which were intersections of business and conservation. My younger sister is still a highschooler and is considering many different options, but I called her after the talk to tell her about land trusts because she cares deeply about the environment and nature and has shown interest in business in the past. Occupations which utilize skills across areas of study or interests are especially fascinating and are a niche.
Qualms about reshaping architectural landscapes
Hearing Noah discuss his work on transforming Collegetown (among other parts of Ithaca) gave me insight into the realities of being an architect. I tend to be more of a traditionalist when it comes to architecture, and I fear that modern architecture will become outdated looking quickly. In my home city, I fear that new building development is modifying the landscape for the worse. I don’t have as strong of an opinion on Collegetown considering that the vibe of this area isn’t particularly well-defined or beautiful to begin with.
I asked Noah about how he accounts how building will appear with time with all of these thoughts in the back of mind. Noah’s response was that an architect it can be very difficult to gauge how a building will age so he tries to focus on using natural materials and fulfilling developer requests. This response was interesting to me because while an architect is in charge of their own designs it sounds to me like a big component of the job is satisfying what a client wants and trying to fit one’s own aesthetic into the confines of a description developed by this client. Noah, however, seems to go a good job of including his own perspective into his work and showed some designs for Collegetown which even resemble already existing buildings in their finishing and materials. I believe that his work is conscientious of the landscape they are located in.
I still have qualms about modern architecture after the talk in my own city after the talk, this time because I think it could be possible that architects who are concerned about the look of a piece have to consider their business first-most. This could mean that stark, modern buildings back home are created because developers want a design which they can be certain young professionals in my city will be attracted to regardless of how they clash with the city’s old roots. These buildings back home are kind of like the fifteen-minute fashion of architecture. I wonder how permanent these buildings will be.
A Different Perspective on Flying
At last week’s Rose Cafe with pilot Mike Comella I got to hear a new perspective on flying. I’m really close with my grandpa and he talks about flight a lot. He was in the Air Force in WWII and he flew recreationally until quite recently (he’s in his 90’s). I’ve heard a lot of complaints from him (basically for as long as I’ve been alive) about how flight became less fun after regulations were increased in response to 911 and his fears that the newest group of pilots rely too heavily on technology.
Hearing Mr. Comella’s thoughts and opinions on flight were especially interesting to me because this was my first time hearing someone other than my grandpa discuss flight. Despite the large age gap, Mr. Comella seemed to agree with the majority of grandpa’s opinions. He stated that there were more regulations in response to accidents / acts of terrorism but as a commercial pilot he seemed to view these regulations in a more positive light. He also acknowledged that pilots rely on technology but that this should make flying safer overall. However, in the event that all of the tech / automated components of a flight were to malfunction he presented some qualms as to how effectively the situation would be handled. I plan on calling my grandpa up some time this week to let him know what I learned because I’ll finally be able to bring some knowledge on this subject to the table.
This Cafe talk also gave me insight into the day-to-day life of a pilot. I love airports and being in planes so part of me feels that I should give flying a try (especially since women are a minority in this field) but another huge part of me is pretty terrified of being in charge of an aircraft. Based on our discussion, however, I’m pretty certain that flying becomes second nature to pilots and that their main hassles are staying awake during flights and awkward lengths of time between flights. It’s funny to me that a job as glamorous and exciting as being a pilot (or at least glamorous in my mind) might actually feel like a pretty regular job to those who have it.
I love Disney Pixar’s Coco
I saw Coco for the second time this past Saturday and I think I cried just as much as when I saw it the first time. I cried for a lot of reasons; 1) the story deals with themes of family and heritage which feel so personal and vivid, 2) the film is a visual masterpiece, 3) Coco illustrates the importance of representation in media. As someone who wants to work at Disney in the future, this movie represents all of my highest aspirations.
Stories are unbelievably powerful. When certain stories are not told (i.e. stories about people of color) that suggests that these stories are not valuable. Mexican culture is often misunderstood (and disrespected) by Americans. The Day of the Dead is the subject of Halloween costumes. Prior to watching the film I knew that the holiday meant much more than candy skulls or costumes, but this film taught me how beautiful Dia des Muertos is and reinforced my belief that I (and all people) can learn so much from other people. I read that Coco is the highest grossing film of all time in Mexico, and this just reinforces the idea that the film presents an honest and accurate view of their culture.
The attention to detail and beauty in this film makes it even more powerful and expressive. I was particularly taken aback by the clothing which characters’ wore because the fabrics look so real. A still of the film at literally any moment would be a work of art. The character’s facial expressions felt life like and emotional. I’ve come to believe that animated films are more expressive than live action ones because every single element of the scene can be composed. Human ingenuity is incredible.
Long story short: I love Coco.
Additionally, this experience made me realize how convenient and inexpensive Cornell cinema is. I want to make it a routine to watch movies in the theater more often. Watching movies alone at a theater is also a weirdly awesome feeling because it allows me connect fully with what I’m watching.
Exploring West Campus
Last Wednesday I saw the underground tunnels of West campus and the memorial room first hand, which was a fascinating experience. The tunnels are surprisingly kind of just concrete hallways. The memorial room has really cool gothic-style decor and I seeing the names of those who fought in WWI from Cornell really drove home to me the historical significance of this school.
However, I found the most interesting portion of the Cafe to be hearing about the history of this part of campus. One of my main takeaways from the discussion was that Ezra Cornell was dedicated to creating a school with an environment of inclusion rather than elitism. His beliefs extended into every aspect of the school from its decision to admit black and female students shortly after its founding, to its options for student housing. Rather than providing on-campus housing, he opted to have students live in town where they would be integrated into the Ithaca community. However, later Cornell added large-scale on-campus housing because this has become standard across all universities. This discussion made me realize that even decisions which seem mundane often have purpose or meaning behind them. I had never considered student housing to be connected to the mission of the school in any way, but it turns out that the school’s mission is apparent in ways I never expected.
Appreciating Cornell Facilities Department
Hearing Anthony McCabe discuss the goals and challenges of Cornell facilities department really opened my eyes to all that his team does. I knew before this cafe chat that their team worked to keep our living spaces clean , but I never realized the degree to which they were invested in the well-being of Cornell’s students. I also learned that contacting the facilities department about an issue is met really positively and that they like to get feedback from students.
My major takeaway from this cafe talk is that I feel like more students should get to know the facilities staff because they are an integral part of the Cornell community. I also feel that people would put more care into maintaining their living spaces if they knew how much work the facilities staff put into making our college experience comfortable. Mr. McCabe was a really kind and funny person, and listening to him talk about his work was a real treat.
The Judicial System and Current Events
Hearing Judge Miller discuss his line of work and its impact was fascinating and helped me realize how integral judges are to politics and society. I also realized that although judges have the very serious job of maintaining the law, they view individuals who commit crimes as real people rather than criminals and take into account their upbringings and attitudes when deciding sentences. Judge Miller humanized the judicial process for me.
I also enjoyed hearing his opinions on current events such as the Larry Nassar case because I read the news and form opinions on what’s going on in the world around me but lack an in depth understanding of the law. It was easy for me to be 100% supportive of the judge dealing with this case without having a complete context of the roles and responsibilities which as judge takes on. His opinions complicated my perspective on this topic.
Judge Miller touched on the subject of the opioid epidemic briefly, offering some long-term solutions to the issue. I am from a city which is at the center of the opioid epidemic and having this discussion made me realize that I want to learn more about this subject and short-term actions taken against this issues, whether through personal research or hearing an expert speak on the subject.
In addition, as a liberal person I already agreed with almost everything that Judge Miller had to say. In the future I think it could be really interesting to hear from a professor or expert of their field who has a conservative point of view, as I don’t know much about this perspective.