A graduating senior’s love letter to Cornell
Finally ballin’, and it only took four years
“In five years, I see myself…”
“Being a baller.”
The quote stood out from the page of my little sister’s yearbook, an astute answer provided by a senior named Chris. On the next page his girlfriend’s answer, “Married to Chris with twins,” stood in glaring contrast. Clearly these two had a conversation ahead of them.
But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Chris was right – I, too, wanted to be a baller. Just… Maybe not the kind of baller he was referring to. Like Chris, I also hadn’t yet figured out what “ballerdom” meant to me. However, Chris was an incoming freshman, and I was a rising senior. The pressure was on.
Cornell is a land of hardworking people. 14,000 talented undergraduates and 6,000 brilliant graduate students move one step closer to their dreams every day. “Any student, any study” could not be a more apt description: Cornellian passions are as varied as they are intense. Our Student Assembly president has been named to the first-ever class of Schwarzman Scholars. Other seniors have started organizations such as the Prison Reform and Education Project, which is now working to “Ban the Box”. Student-run startups abound; countless Cornellians have committed to graduate schools or accepted lucrative job offers as well.
So, not having an identified passion at Cornell is extremely intimidating. I matriculated, as all Arts and Sciences students do, as Undeclared (with a tentative preference for Sociology). After my first meeting with my faculty advisor, a professor in Sociology, that plan was scrapped. My mother not so gently suggested I try the Cornell-exclusive China and Pacific Studies program, so my first semester consisted of intensive Mandarin and Chinese history classes. One semester of that was enough, and I considered Chemistry.
As my cousin was a Physics major, I jokingly referred to us as The Ithaca Project… My friends were not amused. It took me three semesters to have even the slightest idea what I wanted to do, and I’ve been pursuing neuroscience ever since. But… After considering Chris’s words and doing a lot of introspection, I realized that my passion lay in reporting news, not making it. It’s a good thing neuroscience is chiefly composed of transferrable skills.
When Cornell students know what they want to do, they work tirelessly towards that end. I’ve never seen a more applicable definition of “baller”. The question, then, is how does one achieve that status? How does one find what they truly want to do in a sea of opportunity?
They explore. On The Hill, there are some amazing ways to do that.
Go Greek
Approximately one-third of Cornellians are a part of Greek life at Cornell. It’s a great way to meet like-minded people and gain a few dozen “siblings” in one go.
Or… Frat Differently
Service frats, cultural frats, professional frats – oh my!
Explore Ithaca
Staying in the Cornell “bubble” does neither you nor the community any good.
Get a job
You might not make $eriou$ Bank, but you’ll get the experience of a lifetime. Only become an RA if you’re 100 percent sure of your decision, though – your kids are counting on you! (Not residents, kids. They are my children forever.)
Get involved
Yes, that’s every Cornellian’s second-favorite Bill. I had the opportunity to hear him speak this week because I write for The Tab (and you should too! Shameless plug!). How did I start writing for The Tab, you may ask? Well, they posted an ad in a Cornell Facebook group and I saw it. I love writing, and went, “Why not?”. Thus began one of my greatest adventures.
In all seriousness, though, don’t be afraid to say “Yes”. It goes without saying that you should say “No” to anything you’re uncomfortable with, but don’t shy away from the unknown either. At the club fair my freshman year, I signed up for roughly twenty listservs. I can’t say I’ve ever been to meetings for any of those organizations, but exposing myself to their information and operations let me make an informed choice. It also contributed to my 7,658 unread emails, but I digress.
Explore. Try things that you would never normally seek out. Sit with someone new at lunch. Without those listservs, my fraternity, and the opportunities I’ve had here, I never would’ve found my way. The goal is to get to ballerdom, right? Who’s to say what that path looks like, or that it’s in any way standardized? I certainly took forever to figure out what I love to do, and if there’s one thing I want to pass on as I prepare to graduate it’s that this is the time to cast a wide net and expose yourself to, well, everything (not literally). Those quarter-life crises in Nasties and tears shed during pre-enroll will pass, but so will opportunities to figure out what sets your heart on fire.
Go forth with curiosity and enthusiasm. Conquer your classes this semester. And may we be ballers, every one.