Author Archives: mab635

COVID’s Impact on Campus Support for Students

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There is so much comfort I have in knowing that there are adults at Cornell whose jobs and passions are to support students’ well-being and future plans. Laura Weiss (Sexual Violence Prevention Program Coordinator and Victim Advocate) and Christa Downey (Director of the Cornell Engineering Career Center) are two of these student advocates who genuinely love to support and care for students like you and me. One important question that came up during the Fellow Interview with these two asked how their work on campus has shifted now that COVID has changed pretty much everything about how they interact with students. And, to my surprise, I realized that COVID’s impact can really go both ways.

For Ms. Weiss, COVID has restricted her ability to contact students physically and has made it difficult to manage work and life now that she is home all the time. It’s hard enough being a working mother alone, but with COVID merging work with home, Ms. Weiss has had to bear the challenges of managing time effectively (as I’m sure many can relate to, even if not a working mother!). But at the same time, Ms. Weiss has found that students are still open to using the Women’s Resource Center as a safe-place (though virtual) to reach out for help when they need it– in fact, it seems like students are even more encouraged to reach out now that Zoom is an option. It’s convenient and sometimes less intimidating than meeting in person, which means more people can receive the help they need as soon as they need it. And that is amazing! Ms. Weiss’s sacrifices have allowed students to continue receiving the support they need even amidst a pandemic– I am thankful for her hard work!

In a similar manner, Ms. Downey has experienced both the highs and lows of COVID at the Cornell Engineering Career Center side of campus. The one-on-one conversations that are vital to giving effective training for interviews, resume building, and networking may have been moved to virtual settings, but this convenience has made it super easy for students to get in contact with career advisers. We now have access to advice and support pretty much on the spot! How convenient! But at the same time, the Career Center’s hands-on and community-oriented workshops have been put on hold. These great spaces for learning and training with career coaches just can’t be replicated on Zoom, and has thus been hard to lose according to Ms. Downey. Regardless, I myself am grateful for the work Ms. Downey and the Career Center has put into preparing students for their post-grad plans, despite the challenges COVID has issued!

Let Us All be Influencers

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My first ever Rose Scholars table talk was one to remember– it was a small group call on Zoom with GRF Karina, and we discussed the tough question of whether entertainers really have a say in activism. I think we were all in agreement that social media almost forces entertainers/influencers to be activists because there is always pressure on them to “use their platform” to uplift those who are oppressed. And yes– they should! But at this point, it’s hard to know if the motive behind influencers being active on social media is to truly spread awareness and show support or to simply earn more people’s approval. With that said, who are we to try to make that judgment for ourselves? Let influencers influence! Let them do it in their own ways! If we want to see change, we should be the change– let us not put down celebrities for things that we ourselves may lack. I know I could be a much stronger advocate for my hurting brothers and sisters, so I think I would rather put my energy into supporting change than criticizing those who don’t. While we, insignificant students are Cornell, may not have the same platforms as people like Jeremy Lin, Demi Lovato, or BTS, we ought to do our best to make use of our own connections, our own privileges to make changes (little as they may seem) that brighten this world.

Prettiness in Calligraphy

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Like many people, I like looking at pretty things. Pretty flowers, pretty paintings, pretty buildings, pretty birds. So many things in life have been carefully crafted to showcase beauty. I didn’t come to appreciate that this could extend even to the most boring things in life, like handwriting, until I started learning cursive in elementary school and saw the potential of turning plain letters into something more.

Since starting college, I’ve gotten more used to using cursive while jotting down notes and solving problems sets– not because it looks better, but because it’s just time-saving. (Picking up a pencil to start a new letter is a lot of work and takes a lot of time, I know.) But how should cursive be used to show more than the answer to a gear ratio problem or notes on how likely it is that Johnny consumes 50 apples in one day? The answer lies in calligraphy– the visual art of writing!

Attending the Calligraphy Workshop reminded me of the reason I was first drawn to cursive– because it makes simple words look pretty. While I still am far from mastering the calligraphy techniques that accomplish this, I now have a stronger foundation in transforming notes, cards, labels, etc. into a visual adventure that will draw people deeper into the content and effort that goes behind the things I write. Calligraphy truly is the art of beautifying words. It is a skill I hope more people will learn and take advantage of– calligraphy can make anything pretty!

(M)VP Lombardi

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I’m sure you all heard about Sean Evan’s Hot Ones interview with our very own VP Ryan Lombardi. I did indeed attend because it was an opportunity I knew I couldn’t miss. When I was watching the interview, I recalled the many things I had learned about VP Lombardi at a Fellow Interview a while before and came to appreciate just how much he does for his students. Although he wanted to become a high school band director, his passion for seeing college students excel in life made him realize he could educate students in other ways than music. Now, as our VP for Student and Campus Life, he does just that: engaging with students one-on-one to have conversations about our concerns, celebrate with us in our victories, and encourage us when we feel defeated. He truly loves his students and job, even when that includes public humiliation in the form of dying from spicy hot wings. Thank you VP Lombardi for how much you care about your students and are willing to go out of your comfort zone to make our college lives memorable and sweet!

Skribbl.io Hacks Everyone Needs

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Pictionary is a classic game that I’ve loved playing since I was a kid. I only recently discovered the online version of it (skribbl.io) when introduced by my hip younger sister, and since then have encountered it more and more as the pandemic has shifted from physical games to virtual ones. I’ve got to be honest: I’m not the best at drawing with a mouse. (Okay, who is?) But I will say that practice with this seemingly fool-proof game will lead to a better score by the end of it. With that said, here are some hacks that I have found are the best way to improve your skibbl.io skills!

  1. Use a stylus. While I myself do not have a stylus, it is clear from my experiences that those with styluses are absolutely superior in the game. It just makes drawing faster and means you aren’t limited by the strains of dragging your mouse around. The day I acquire a stylus (whenever that may be), my circles will not look like hexagons any longer.
  2. Take advantage of the letter count above the drawing board. Many people don’t even realize this exists, but once you do, it’s a life saver! If you’re stuck between guessing the drawing is a platypus or a dog and there are only three letters in the letter count… dog it is.
  3. Think before you draw. It always helps to plan it out in your mind before you take action– then you won’t have any regrets while drawing that could otherwise lose you precious time.
  4. Type fast. This is pretty straight forward. If you have a slow typing speed, I implore you to improve your speed with some typing tests. It’s truly vital.
  5. Play with friends. Nothing is better than making fun of your own drawings and laughing off mistakes with friends!

It’s sad to say that these hacks didn’t help me much during the Rose Scholars Pictionary battle because my screen wouldn’t display other people’s drawings (thankfully, I had a Rose Scholar suitemate who shared her screen with me during the game). Still, I sincerely hope that the next time you play skribbl.io you will consider these tips and maybe, just maybe, win the game even with a mouse.

Environmental Justice Still Needs Work

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When I first heard the phrase “environmental justice,” I couldn’t wrap my head around what it really meant. Did it have to do spreading awareness of the harmful effects of pollution on our climates? Was it a means of encouraging people to reduce, reuse, and recycle? Or was it meant to (I don’t know) stop people from plucking flowers from the ground? Though these speculations might play a part in the movement, I learned after taking DEA 1500 last semester that environmental justice involves more than just how humans treat the environment. Rather, environmental justice is actively designing and maintaining environments so that people (all people) can live life without facing the barriers of homelessness, food scarcity, and toxic poisoning– it’s about promoting human equality by means of making environments safe, accessible, and beneficial.

Believe it or not, where you live changes who you become. The panelists at the LWYL Café on Climate (In)justice, experts on environmental justice and its deep-rooted connection to climate change, gave important insights into what still needs to be done to truly accomplish environmental justice. It begins with uplifting the concerns of those who have been directly affected by climate change and have not received the support they need to overcome it. It turns out that these people are more often than not a part of the Latinx or African American communities and are poor. Yes, it makes sense that as the climate evolves (as in more natural disasters, increasing temperatures, and increased carbon levels), people will be affected by it. But why is it that underrepresented, lower-income communities are the ones bearing the weight and blame of these affects, and not others? You guessed it: systemic racism. Land that used to be owned and taken care of by Latinxs and African Americans was taken away by colonialists, and now many of these environments are food deserts. Poor neighborhoods that were gentrified in order to bring in wealthier populations have left the original residents homeless and without community. The list goes on, and the panelists at this talk encouraged us to get involved in uplifting these voices so that, finally, our politicians may be able to consider how to implement policies that actively address the pains of hurting communities. There is more to be done for sure, but being educated on environmental justice is one step we all need to take in making life worth living, no matter who you are and where you are.

Building a Career out of Passion

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I’m sure we’ve all heard over and over the saying “turn your passion into a career.” For many, this may be easy money, but for me this has always been a tough demand. I tend to ask myself: what am I passionate about? Would a career in what I’m passionate about change my passion for it for the worse? How can I be sure what I’m passionate about can be manifested into a career? All questions that are becoming more and more important as I get closer to the ~real world~ and its expectations for me to jump into a career.

Hearing from Angela Cornell, a Clinical Professor of Law, and Mary Opperman, the Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer for Cornell, helped me gauge how other people have (successfully) resolved these important career questions. Professor Cornell took her passion for improving society’s stance on the average worker into law school, which led her to labor law more specifically. She now actively fights for the rights of middle class workers who have been deprived of justice in the workplace. To her, daily interactions with struggling workers made her recognize the great reward that comes from winning a case on behalf of a victim of labor law. It is clear that her passion for social justice did not dwindle over time just because it became her career– rather, it excelled and led her toward more passionate work. If we truly are passionate about something, the work that comes from it will be rewarding and will invigorate our passions further.

VP Opperman recounted her time as a bartender when describing how she got into the human resources field– it was this part-time job that made her realize what she truly had a passion for: hearing people’s stories and engaging in the personal dynamics of life. And now, as one of the most important leaders at Cornell, VP Opperman understands to the fullest what it means to pursue a passion and to do it wholeheartedly. She has proved that moving up in leadership positions does not mean you have to desert your passions– she is still at the heart of the university’s decisions in safely and morally keeping our community alive during the pandemic. I am positive that her passion for working with and hearing from people is just as intact as it was in her bartender days, if not more.

These two amazing panelists at the Fellow Interview enlightened me on the way passion continuously drives how people do and should shape their careers. Passion is not found on demand, nor does it tell us exactly what career path to choose. But it does give us the motivation to be persistent in our decisions and the foundation to base our plans. Thank you to Professor Cornell and VP Opperman for sharing your stories on how you built meaningful careers out of your deepest passions.

Pay Your Musicians!

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There is a ton I learned about the underground music scene in Ithaca at the Sounding Out Ithaca webinar tonight. Hearing from a DIY musician, composer, visual artist, and Ithaca Underground’s very own Arts Organizer and Board Chair at this panel offered perspectives on the importance of making, listening to, and supporting music in communities like ours. I could talk all about Enongo Lumumba-Kasongo’s self-made hip-hop music videos, Senior Lecturer Annie Lewandowski’s whale listening projects, and Melissa Crumrine’s visual storytelling on her journey with female body standards, but instead I want to discuss a recurring notion among the panelists that particularly stood out to me: musicians are laborers and deserve to be paid.

It’s easy to picture a musician and question whether they can really support themselves by just playing music– but perhaps the problem is not that they are choosing an “unstable” career path, but that we (as listeners) are not giving them our full financial support for the work they do. Yes, playing music is work. It requires physical, mental, and even social effort in order to perform music live for an audience or produce and publish it for people to stream. When we listen to music, perhaps we feel like a voluntary service is being provided to us because it is effortless to enjoy the music we like. But think of the musician’s perspective: they are devoting their blood, sweat, and tears to create and perform music that both they and their listeners love, only for listeners to behave as if they are entitled to having access to such art. What nonsense! Just as we pay plumbers who repair our leaking sinks, taxi drivers who take us from one place to another, and teachers (albeit through taxes) who deliver knowledge to our brains, we ought to pay our musicians in a manner that matches the labor they go through and the enjoyment we gain from their music. So, go! Listen to your favorite artists’ music, support them by streaming their songs and following them on social media, and– this is crucial– pay them what they deserve!

Intact with Interests

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Radios used to be this country’s key source of entertainment, music, and news before television took over. Though we still take advantage of the radio while on long drives in the car or perhaps when visiting grandparents, it’s clear that Netflix, Youtube, Twitter, and loads of other platforms now take over our attention as we seek inspiration, comedy, politics, and more. Nicholas Huelster, a graduate teaching assistant here at Cornell and host of his own podcast, enlightened us on the impressive freedom that the radio offered creators of the “old days” who shared comedic talks, suspenseful stories, and bright music to eager listeners. Though the means have evolved over the decades, there is no doubt that we still gravitate towards these kinds of masterpieces in entertainment. Is there a day that goes by during which we don’t read a news article, stream a banger song, or scroll through Instagram during a study break? Each of us has a niche that we seek from the multitude of platforms we have at our fingertips, and it is truly up to us which of those platforms we choose. I personally enjoy listening to podcasts on Spotify like Ask Pastor John to gain wise insight on Christian topics, along with watching vlogs on YouTube from my favorite K-pop artists to get a peek into the life of a singer. So whether you tend towards Tiktok or the old time radio, I’m sure you’ll be able to appreciate just how amazing it is that technology has evolved without losing touch of one of the core goals of entertainment: to connect people with their interests.