I really enjoyed this talk about health, safety, and relationships. I feel that in college these topics are extremely important in order to maintain healthy relationships with significant others and even friends. I find that it’s easy for relationships to get intense and unhealthy fast it’s important to notice the signs and end relationships before they get toxic.

I found this discussion of health, safety, and relationships very helpful. Greta Kenney and Naomi Barry did an amazing job answering our questions and providing us an overview of the services offered at Cornell Women’s Resource Center and the Tompkins Advocacy Center. As a transfer student during a pandemic, I have had a lot of difficulties finding all these resources. It is great to know that I can receive support when needed. These conversations can be quite difficult, and not everyone knows how to best help stay safe while dating. I am grateful to know that my peers are also in the same boat, have similar questions and experiences and that there is a place for these discussions.

In the seminar discussing love, health, safety, and relationships, it opened up my eyes to what other issues people face. For example, one individual discussed how his queer friend had trouble getting help when he was sexually assaulted. It saddened me that even in the present day, it can be incredibly difficult to find help if you are in a minority group. Although I haven’t experienced anything similar, I hope that over time these issues will eventually disappear. Additionally, this seminar illustrated to me that covid has made dating difficult for not just me, but for all people. Especially with everybody being sent home, it was impossible to keep relationships from deteriorating because of long-distance. It was comforting to hear that everyone was experiencing the same problems.

I found this discussion very helpful. As someone who has a lot of questions about relationships, this was especially relevant. We discussed some great ways to stay engaged with our significant other during COVID where it is more challenging to bond with in-person activities. I thought the drive-in movie theater idea was an especially great idea, as well as the idea to read a book together but share it through the camera. Unfortunately, it is also possible for relationships to get inappropriate and unsafe and I greatly appreciated listening to Ximena, Shura, and Naoimi cover the plethora of resources available to support victims. All in all, this panel was very helpful and I feel like some of my burning questions on relationships were answered really well!

During Thursday’s seminar on love and relationships, many important issues about safety during a relationship were brought up, and I was glad I learned so much from that conversation. Although I’m not in a relationship, I have always been worried about where I should go for help if something did happen that I did not feel comfortable talking about to just anyone. Thankfully, I learned that Cornell and Ithaca in general has a plethora of resources available, with the important fact that they are all inclusive. This makes me feel at ease because I am of a minority group, and also have friends that are part of the LGBTQ+ community, so I feel safe knowing that they are safe. My only disappointment is that these resources are somewhat difficult to find and I would not have known about them had I not attended the seminar, but I would love to share the links they provided us with everyone I know.

In this week’s Thursday seminar, in the spirit of Valentine’s Day, the topic of safe love was recurring. In this, hearing from experts who are in the Ithaca community and in the Cornell community really helped to solidify that there are resources nearby for everyone, and I would not have to go through something traumatic like sexual assault alone. From personal experience, I feel as though there are times where I would not want to express my discomfort around a male who is making me uncomfortable. In a situation like this, one of the experts brought up an action step of what I can do to combat it: put out a feeler test to gage other people’s feelings toward the same person. This made me reflect on my past, because I have done this before and often times, I am not the only one who feels the same way I do. As a result of this,  it made me feel less crazy and safer to have an ally with me.

When attending the Let’s Talk Love: Health, Safety, and Relationships Thursday Seminar, I was really amazed. I had no idea the support system and the level of dedication to aiding students in this area at Cornell were so incredible. 

I also found the event itself was very engaging. I found one of the stories shared at the meeting to be very resonating. To think that an individual who has been assaulted has to serve a life sentence to the HIV infection because of poor prevention planning by doctors is just sickening to me.

The major point that I took away from this event is that I am SO GLAD that the support system is so vast for students at Cornell since there are so many pervasive problems and dangers that they may encounter on and off-campus.

Yesterday’s conversation as very helpful and comforting. With the difficult year we have all been facing, it was nice to learn more about how to cope in terms of relationships. A lot of creative dating ideas for dating were discussed. For example, using Netflix party or doing activities virtually with your friends and significant others. I particularly loved the idea of buying the same ingredients and cooking the same dish virtually with a friend or partner. Since the pandemic, I have really missed going out to eat new foods with my friends so this seems like a great alternative that I will definitely have to try out. Different resources for dealing for victims of sexual harassment were also given and talked about. I feel that the information is very important and helpful to student on campus.

Today’s seminar was a much needed conversation. With Valentine’s Day this past weekend, discussing how to navigate love, especially in the midst of the pandemic was necessary. Many people offered innovative virtual dating ideas; my personal favorite was the Netflix idea. I love watching movies, and I feel like it is easier to start and maintain a conversation when it comes to movies. When the panel discussed what leads to a failed relationship, I agree that miscommunication is a big factor. However, I also believe that other factors include incompatibility, and a lack of trust. We also discussed resources available on campus for victims of sexual harassment. Personally, I think that Cornell needs to do a better job making sure students are aware of the resources available. I learned more about the resources available at this event rather than from Cornell administration. Oftentimes, the issue is that victims are afraid to speak up due to fear of retaliation. I’m not completely sure of what Cornell is doing to make victims feel comfortable to speak up, but I hope that they can do more to spread the information.

Today’s meeting about love gave me a lot of food for thought. I was reflecting on my relationships during this time and gained so many resources and insight about how to navigate love during COVID 19 specifically. The Q&A was memorable for me because so many personal questions were asked and great resources and assistance were given. It’s very fulfilling to see people willing to help and support. The advocacy was amazing to listen to. I also learned valuable information and resources cornell had that I did not know before, and is something I will definitely pass along to others if they ever need to reach out.

This discussion and panel was a lot of fun! We started of with a Valentine’s Day themed Kahoot that taught me a lot of new interesting facts (including how parks and recreation popularized Galentine’s day). After that, we delved into a discussion about navigating relationships in the time of covid-19. Although we all agreed that the pandemic has made relationships quite difficult, through discussion we came up with a lot of interesting and unique safe date ideas. We also discussed the available campus resources in place to address relationships and sexual harassment. Overall, it was an interesting, applicable, and informative panel that was quite enjoyable to attend!