Author: Yasmin Alameddine
As O-Week comes rapidly near, there is a group of students who are apprehensive and nervous for what this week will bring. They want to create memories that will last forever, and hope to make an impact on the larger Cornell community.
I’m not talking about the over eager Freshmen, but our Seniors. Yes, the Class of 2015 is about to embark on its last O-Week at school, which marks a beginning to an end of its career at Cornell. But before the seniors go, four Slope Media executive board members (Hannah McGough, Morgan Miller, Michael Rosenblum, and Isabella Krell) reflect and give advice on the daunting and incredible place we all call home.
PART 1: Fresh meat
Q: Think back to freshman year, what’d you think of O-week? What did you think of your first semester?
HM: It was so exciting! But I was that girl who, on day 1, knocked on every door in Bauer with my roommate to organize a hall-wide CTB outing. I remember trying to experience as much as possible, so even though I did the good ol’ freshman annex crawl I wasn’t above the cheesy planned activities, either (looking at you and your free inflatable ponies, Ho Plaza Carnival). During O-Week, Cornell hands you opportunities to meet students with whom you wouldn’t normally interact. Something I made a point of doing first semester was getting to know people from all kinds of “groups.” As my idea of who I wanted to surround myself with changed year to year, I always had friends. Freshmen, don’t box yourselves.
MM: OMG, that was literally 3 years ago now, I feel so old. I didn’t love first semester though. I felt a little lost to be honest. It’s okay though, I’m pretty sure most people did.
MR: Looking back, O-Week was such a whirlwind of activities/events and meeting people. The friends I made during O-Week became and remain some of my closest friends at Cornell. My first semester was by far my most atypical semester, at least in terms of classes and going out. I was in a strange mix of required classes that I didn’t really enjoy (especially my economics class) and I went out to parties significantly less than any other of my semesters. I’d say I’ve enjoyed every semester since my first a lot more.
IK: Freshmen fall wasn’t my best semester… I was mostly overwhelmed from being so far from home and my family, and having to adjust to ‘adult’ life. Cornell definitely got better over the years, and now I’m not ready to leave!
Q: A fresh-faced first year is standing right in front of you (map and lanyard in hand), what are the most important things they should know?
HM: Speak up! To ask for directions, to introduce yourself– to do whatever. It’s not weird during O-week (but it kinda will be later, so seize the day). Whoever you were in high school does not have to be you in college (we won’t know), so if the former you was afraid to be outgoing, now’s the time to change that (can you tell I was an RA?). Some other important things: Mann is better than Olin, and this isn’t debatable. There’s a footbridge to the Ag Quad, use it. Bartels has the largest indoor natural rock wall in North America, and climbing shoes can be bursared. The Observatory has free stargazing, romantic if it’s not freezing. If you’re heading to yoga at Teagle, you want Lisa. You can pre-order CTB online instead of waiting, and the best cream cheese is bacon scallion.
MM: Don’t wear the lanyard, use Google Maps on your smartphone instead of a an actual map, and take a deep breath. Everything is going to be okay (it really will be).
MR: Don’t freak out about remembering everything you hear immediately; if it’s important you’ll probably hear it a dozen more times. Don’t get into a routine too quickly. There’s a ton to explore and so many people to meet, and people who settle into a pattern too fast tend to end their exploration phase. Get to know any TAs you might have, since they are usually the ones grading your papers/prelims.
IK: Meet as many people as you can in the beginning! Some of the people you meet will be your best friends in the years to come. Join clubs and groups and engage in your classes because these will also open your horizons and allow you to meet a ton of people. Last but not least, don’t freak out if you feel upset about something, or don’t LOVE the campus, the people, the classes immediately. You will end up loving Cornell, so just cherish all your time here because it flies!
Q: What is the worst piece of advice you were given?
HM: “You’ll be into it once you pledge.” Eh, wasn’t.
MM: Okay, so the worst piece of advice I got was “don’t be a Comm major.” Going into Cornell, everyone made fun of the Communication majors at every school because it is “the easiest major” (not my words). It’s what I wanted to study though. It wasn’t until I got the courage to just go for it, and start taking Comm classes that I really felt happy and at ease on the Hill. Do what you love and it will make all the difference. (And Comm is not easy just to clarify.)
MR: I think I mainly just got broad, cliched going-to-college advice. The only specific advice that I remember being bad advice was being told to put my email address down for any club that I was even slightly interested in. I’m STILL getting emails from several that I never even went to a meeting for.
IK: “You won’t be cold if you don’t take your jacket, it’s only a 5-minute walk.”
PART 2: SWUG Time
Q: What do you hope to achieve in your last semester?
HM: By December, I want to be able to step into a fine establishment, look at the wine menu, and order like a grown-ass woman who’s taken a viticulture course from the nation’s best hospitality school. So yes, potential new members, when my face is beaming at our 5pm GBodies, that is a wine glow.
MM: Being queen of the SWUGs. Kidding, leaving my apartment and doing things that make me genuinely happy. Oh, and finding a job.
MR: Figuring out what I want to do with my life. Also, trying to just enjoy every last moment of Cornell.
IK: I want to enjoy it as much as I can – aka get all my work done quickly so I can cherish the last year I have with my friends here. Also, a priority is definitely figuring out what I want to work with, where I want to live, etc.
Q: Do you feel infinitely cooler and wiser now that you’re the oldest students on campus?
HM: Nah, fake IDs level the playing field.
MM: Not cooler, definitely wiser.
MR: I definitely feel like I know more now, but I also know more about just how much I don’t know and haven’t been able to do in my time here.
IK: MM said it brilliantly.
Q: What makes Class of 2015 unique?
HM: Well, since you asked, we are the sesquicentennial class, which means we ring in Cornell University’s 150th Birthday. Word on the street is She plans to party like it’s 1865.
MM: Not sure we are unique, but we are pretty great.
MR: Other than being the 150th class? We saw Taio Cruz and a presidential election while at Cornell?
IK: It’s the only class graduating in 2015…. Again, Hannah and Morgan said it very well!
Q: What are you scared of as a senior?
HM: Happy Dave. (Some fears only expire upon graduation.)
MM: Graduating, the real world, leaving college, black ice, and spiders.
MR: Not to copy Morgan, but the real world. I’m still not sure what I want to do immediately after graduation, let alone for a career.
IK: Being an actual grown up now. I’ve become a lot more independent over these four years, but life after college = you’re a real person aka adult.
PART 3: Hail oh hail Cornell
Q: What were you surprised about at Cornell?
HM: How little effort is made (Seemingly! Tour guide friends don’t kill me!) to salt the walkways after Cornell’s many apocalyptic blizzards. I mean, come on, some of us are from California (and walking through the slush-covered “paths” on campus is as bad as running in the sand). Snow boots: 0, East Ave: 1.
MM: Amen to that, Hannah. How small such a large school can feel — feels like home when you find the right people.
MR: How quickly and effortlessly I was able to find a great group of friends who became a tight-knit group.
IK: After hearing about pulling all-nighters, I was pleasantly surprised that I never had to pull an all-nighter and was always able to sleep 9ish hours per night.
Q: What was something you wanted to do on campus, but never got around to?
HM: Sled down the slope in a garbage bag. It’s gonna happen.
MM: I wish I had applied to be part of the commencement speaker committee! Fingers crossed they chose my girl RBG (Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg).
MR: I never ended up being an Orientation Leader, which is something that I think I would have enjoyed doing.
IK: Joining a business fraternity.
Q: What kept you happy and sane through the cold winters and steep slopes?
HM: There are these channels on YouTube that play jazzy instrumental music against the backdrop of nature footage. Like, flamingos trotting around a pond, or palm trees swaying on the beach. To study for exams I would post up in a room in Carpenter (because let’s be honest, it’s the closest to Collegetown), pull up those videos on the big desk monitor, and pretend I couldn’t see the snow (or judgy engineers) outside the window while I essayed. Recommended!
MM: Friends, Wine, Netflix, Shonda Thursdays, and Jack’s delivery.
MR: Music and hanging out with friends, although heating definitely helped, too.
IK: Food and cuddling.
PART 4: Roses and thorns (aka slopes and gorges)
Q: What was the biggest challenge you overcame at Cornell?
HM: LIBE SLOPE! Haha, maybe the conformity. I came from private school, only to find that in the vast population of Cornell a uniform still manages to emerge. The fact that everyone has them doesn’t make Longchamps or Patagonia fleece quarter zips any less hideous. It’s refreshing to see people who dress for themselves–you do you. As for a real challenge I [barely] overcame at Cornell, that would be my college’s Stats requirement…we can’t all be left-brained.
MM: The hills. Being serious though, finding my passion. Sounds cliche but it took me until the middle of Sophomore year to declare a major. It’s easy to flounder and hard to ask for help, but I have never regretted getting advice.
MR: Surviving my economics/finance classes. They just don’t come naturally and aren’t interesting to me. Striking a good balance between work and having a social life was also a major challenge my freshman year.
IK: Coming from a 90-person grade in high school, knowing every single person in it and being friends with my all my teachers, it was tough coming to a 4,000-person grade, attending lectures with 500 people, and not being able to be friends with teachers like I was in Brazil. After a while you notice that you start seeing the same people again and again, and that Cornell isn’t that huge after all.
Q: What did you fail miserably at?
HM: I spread myself too thin. My advisor Linda was constantly asking me if I really needed to run for that position, or take that many credits, and although my answer was almost always “Yes, damnit!” I knew that some things could wait. And now here I am graduating early with everything done. I don’t feel like I rushed my college experience, but I definitely would have enjoyed more of what I’m feeling now: the bliss of having time for myself. Simple, but it sounds silly even saying it.
MM: Financial Accounting (not actually, but definitely don’t ask for my help in that class).
MR: Finance. Only class I have dropped, so far.
IK: Predicting the weather. Ithaca often has 4 seasons in one day.
PART 5: Cue the tears
Q: What is one thing you are going to miss about Cornell?
HM: Oh, my gosh! When else in my life will I be surrounded by so many people my age–who share enough in common with me already to be at the same university–be living so concentrated and in such close proximity to me? I’d be lucky if I lived in an environment this compatible again, so I’m trying to love my friends as much as possible and cherish this scene before it’s time to leave.
MM: I can only name one thing? Literally everything but the winter weather.
MR: If I have to pick one thing, I’d have to say the community. I have very similar sentiments to what Hannah said. I really appreciate knowing that everyone at Cornell has certain shared experiences and more in common than normally occurs in life outside of college.
IK: Definitely the people. After spending a summer doing an internship and being surrounded by older people, I realized that being in college really is amazing because you are surrounded by people your age who are very similar to you, just from having spent 4 years in the same place.
Q: What is one thing you are happy to be leaving behind?
HM: The marks I’ve left…on the carved-out willow by Uris. But really, there are things (like Slope!) that will put a smile on my face to check out years from now on a reunion visit. Other things I’m thrilled to leave behind: the ridiculous cab fare of Ithaca, iClickers, my apartment’s “no pets” policy, when Starbucks routinely closes at 10pm even though it’s finals week, and waiting for a TCAT during a snowstorm only to see the “BUS FULL” sign.
MM: Homework and prelims. Why do we call them prelims I think that makes the tests sound worse than they actually are. I am happy to be leaving behind the word “prelim.”
MR: Prelims, walking up the hills, and the weather. But I’d gladly continue enduring those minor inconveniences for a few extra years.
IK: The snow, the cold, the rain, the hills, the duck shoes.
Q: What was your favorite Cornell memory that you’re going to tell your great-grand children whilst rocking back and forth in your Big Red rocking chair?
HM: Best kept out of publication..
MM: I am not sure there is just one memory, but if I have any say, all my kids, grand-kids, and great-grand kids will be Cornellians.
MR: Every Slope Day. Also, that time my friend rolled down the gorge. That was a fairly epic/story-worthy night haha.
IK: All Slope Days. I also hope my children and great-grand children get to experience them too.
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The author can be reached at yasmin.alameddine@www.slopemedia.org
Senior reflections will be posted annually.
