Reunion has come and gone. Cases of water have been delivered and voraciously consumed in 100-degree heat, classmates have reunited, and Cornell has once again become (relatively) quiet. As you can tell, I had no free time during the weekend to blog; I was either eating or sleeping during the little downtime I had. Throughout the weekend, Ithaca was scorching. The 80 or so kids who came with their class of ‘93 parents spent much of their time with spray bottles and sprinklers outside our HQ as their parents socialized and received the occasional drenching from their loving children. While the fifteenth reunion is generally one of the less popular reunions, we five student clerks were kept busy from Thursday to Sunday with everything from Wegmans trips and ice cream socials to computer registration and balloon inflating.

During some of the quieter moments, we had the chance to talk to some of the alums who had come back for the weekend. I even came across an alumna who had been a rural sociology major (the predecessor to what is now International Agriculture & Rural Development) and I got to hear about how she uses the things she learned in the major in her current healthcare job. Seeing as how I had never come across an IARD alum before, I found the interaction to be helpful.

President Skorton stopped by the Class of ’93’s ice cream social to meet some of the alums at the event, most of whom had never met him. Frank Rhodes, president of Cornell during the class of ’93’s years on the hill, attended a cocktail reception with the class the next day. Since we clerks are used to being behind the scenes much of the weekend, I was impressed when Rhodes and his wife made the effort to come talk to three of us for a few minutes. That said, I shouldn’t have expected anything less from a man I had heard so many rave reviews of.

Despite the weekend-long heat wave, it didn’t rain until an hour after check-out on Sunday, when a huge thunderstorm came through Ithaca. How the rain managed to hold off all weekend is beyond me, but it surely made reunion that much more enjoyable.

A few more photos from the weekend (click on photos for captions and more):

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Related Links

Reunion Weekend 2008 [Cornell Chronicle]

The Cornell Class of 1993 headquarters opens in a little under twelve hours for Reunion ‘08. As one of nearly one hundred student clerks hired by Cornell Alumni Affairs & Development for the long weekend, I’m helping run the show (specifically for the 15th reunion year) to make sure alumni enjoy their return to Ithaca to see campus, meet up with old classmates, and take advantage of the jam-packed reunion program.

North campus was deathly quiet when I arrived on Tuesday afternoon, and I was definitely one of maybe three people in Low Rise 9 (known as the program house “Just About Music” (JAM) during the school year) on Tuesday night. After learning the ropes of the online reunion registration database bright and early yesterday morning allllll the way across campus in Phillips Hall on the engineering quad, we five student clerks for the class of ‘93 spent the rest of the day setting up the HQ, which happens to be in JAM’s performance space. We’re trying to decide if turning on the disco ball would enhance the check-in process. At noon today, reunion will officially start, and north campus will definitely begin to feel a bit more lively than it did on Tuesday.

It looks to be a fun weekend, though I’m bracing for the 79 expected children (all 10 and under) and the weather on Friday and Saturday, which calls for a humid 93 degrees and thunderstorms. I’ll report back at some point when I’m not using 100% of my downtime for naps between shifts.

…players on Cornell’s men’s lacrosse team are preparing themselves for a first-round NCAA playoff match-up against Ohio State this Saturday on top of studying for and taking their final exams. Senior midfielder Danny Nathan is blogging for The New York Times during the week to give readers a behind-the-scenes peek at life on the Big Red men’s lacrosse team and the preparations for Saturday’s game here in Ithaca. It’s an entertaining read, to say the least. Check it out here.

One more week ’til summer…

12 days until my summer officially starts. Before then, 5 finals (3 in class, 2 take-home), 1 gigantic malaria eradication proposal, 800+ prospective students to work with on New York State Open House Day, and 1 last visit to the Ithaca Farmer’s Market.

113 days from now, I’ll be 5233 miles south of Ithaca, starting my 4 month adventure in South America with ~15 other college students from around the US. Before then, I’ll have to make my 4th study abroad-related trip to Gannett Health Services to get yet another health form filled out. By the time I leave for Chile, I will have walked those 5233 miles across Cornell’s campus just to get the 10 billion forms signed for my semester abroad.

Fortunately, May 16th won’t be my last day in Ithaca before I head to the southern hemisphere. I’ll be back for 6 action-packed days in June to work as a clerk for the class of 1993 at Cornell reunion.

Here’s to summer. So close, yet so far.

A photo-dominated post. Pictures do more justice to spring in Ithaca than words do.

Colors emerging from the landscape:

and some shots from Cornell crew on the Cayuga Lake Inlet in Ithaca last Saturday:

And that’s exactly what I did.

With the mercury breaking 85 degrees on Saturday and with unquestionable shorts-wearing weather dominating the IthaClimate over the past week or so, overall happiness has basically skyrocketed (not to say that Cornellians are a cold, depressed bunch the rest of the year, because we aren’t) to generate the perfect end-of-year atmosphere. Not to mention these were the perfect conditions for Cornell Days. While working at a Cornell Days event on Saturday, a prospective student asked me, “It’s not always this warm here, right?”. Right. During the peak period of last year’s Cornell Days, Ithaca was pounded with a foot of snow. Ew.

On Thursday night, Israel’s DJ Yahel took the stage in Barton Hall to perform a set from 10:30PM until 1:30AM in celebration of Israel’s 60th birthday. Adam Vana from Cornell’s Electronic Music Collective DJ-ed before Yahel took over. Situated under a gigantic Israeli flag, Yahel got a huge reaction from the crowd. It took a good hour or so for everyone in attendance to understand that standing and staring at the DJ isn’t the point of a rave. Given that hour, nearly everyone was moving in some way, shape, or form. The other learning curve presented itself when some people tried to crowd surf. Needless to say, they didn’t get very far before they fell to the ground. Key element of the night: free glowsticks. Made for much cooler photos, at least.

Come 1:30AM, Yahel spun his final track with an audience of about 100 remaining fans who urged him for an encore, which he delivered wholeheartedly. It was the greatest party I’d seen at Cornell…until Saturday came along.

Walking through central campus on my way to Collegetown on Saturday evening, I passed through Ho Plaza, which was in the process of a dream-like transformation. I knew “Rated R II: Escape to Beirut” (read: Lebanese night) would be happening that night, but I hadn’t anticipated much. As I walked through at around 7PM, a big rental truck was unloading lots of equipment, and speakers were already in place around the plaza. Not gonna lie, it was more than exciting to see huge speakers creating a surround sound environment (while blasting “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough”) in the place most Cornellians associate with persistent solicitation by quartercard, rain or shine. Since this was Ho Plaza, I - of course - was handed a quartercard by one of the guys setting up the area. 10PM ’til 2AM? I’d be back.

Walking through Collegetown at around 10:30, I could hear bass pumping in the distance. I passed it off as someone’s car, until it didn’t disappear. Ho Plaza. I was a ten minute walk away and could already hear the music. This was gonna be good.

A line of about fifty-ish people waiting to get in stretched down Ho Plaza from the entrance of the otherwise roped-off venue. I joined some friends in line and soon passed through after showing my Cornell ID. Air mattresses dotted the plaza as a DJ spun deep house music from an elevated stage in one corner. There were hookahs spread about, along with some tables featuring Lebanese snacks. The weather couldn’t have been better: warm and breezy, with clear skies. Everyone was dancing. It was hard not to, given the atmosphere and mind-blowingly good music. There’s not much more to say, so here are some photos.

Since many of you accepted Class of 2012-ers are currently deciding where to spend the next four years of your lives, I figured I’d take the time to explain how I came to choose Cornell. Cornell Days for accepted students is happening over a variety of days until the 21st, so make the trip to Ithaca if you get the chance, and come see what Cornell is all about. As a student ambassador, I’ll be working at several of the Cornell Days functions, so I look forward to meeting some 2012-ers over the course of the next couple of weeks. Have any more questions? Feel free to post a comment!

Interests

If you had asked me in ninth grade what I wanted to study in college, I would have definitively told you “marine biology”. The reality was that I was fascinated by the coastal ecosystems in my area, but I was only just starting to take an introductory high school bio course. The idea sounded cool, but I wasn’t really qualified to make a final decision then and there; for the most part, no ninth grader is.

Throughout high school, I probably would have given you a different answer every time I was asked. I ended up looking at colleges and universities for their programs ranging from Brazilian & Portuguese Studies to Environmental Studies, Geography to Political Science. I had (and still have) a broad range of interests, and I was looking for the best way to cover as many as possible.

It wasn’t until spring of my junior year that I started to get a better idea of what I wanted to pursue. After a trip to the Brazilian Amazon where I encountered the struggle between economic development and environmental conservation, international development took center stage in my mind. A few days before this trip, I had visited Cornell for the first time as a prospective student. Sure, I’d been there for reunion and with my family, but not in the mindset of a potential applicant. During that snowy visit, I sat in on DSOC 205 - International Development - with Prof. Philip McMichael. Two years later, I’d be sitting in the same class as an enrolled student.

When I visited the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences (CALS) Open House during the fall of my senior year, I discovered the International Agriculture & Rural Development major, a relatively Cornell-unique major that was flexible enough to allow me to take courses in basically all my areas of interest. Perfect.

Big? Small?

Coming from such a small school, I spent much of my college search process focused on what felt comfortable: small colleges. I made a few trips across the Northeast, a trip down to the nation’s capital, and hopped on a few planes for a three-school tour of the midwest. Of the fifteen(ish) schools I visited, all but two would fall into the small to midsize category (measured by student population).

It was only at the end of July before my senior year of high school that I visited a big school for the first time. While even the smallest colleges I was looking at had student populations seven times the size of my high school, the energy and possibilities promised by a big school atmosphere were hard to ignore.

My class at Cornell is fifty times bigger than my graduating class in high school, and I couldn’t be happier. The opportunities that have been afforded to me by Cornell’s size and unique composition have made my experience here something I wouldn’t trade for anything else. From tasting the special ice cream flavor that the Cornell Dairy formulated for President Skorton’s inauguration (”Banana Berry Skorton”) to meeting Cornell alumni over dinner in Shanghai as a part of a student delegation to China from The Cornell Daily Sun, I’ve tried to take full advantage of my time on the hill. So far, I’d say I’ve succeeded.

Familiarity

Since my mom is a Cornell alumna, I had been to Ithaca before; I’d seen the ducks at the Cornell Plantations, I’d climbed to the top of the clock tower, I’d even slept in a dorm room during reunion in 2004. Familiarity definitely played a role in my decision to choose Cornell as my Early Decision application recipient, but not as much of a role as many people assume. Sure, I’d seen the campus first-hand, but it wasn’t until the fall of my senior year that I seriously considered Cornell as a top choice. I hadn’t been waiting my entire life to go to Cornell, but once I discovered what it was all about, I couldn’t wait for orientation to start.

The “Smaller” Things

Okay, I don’t consider them that small at all, but others might not put them at the top of their list for college-picking criteria.

• Food. I made it a point to eat in a dining hall at nearly every school I visited. Don’t forget that you’ll be spending a significant amount of time eating the food at whichever college or university you end up at. The whole happiness thing usually works out best if you like the food. No problem with that here. Not only is Cornell’s food top-ranked, but there’s a huge variety of it, ranging from cafés on the Ag quad to all-you-care-to-eat dining halls in each of the house system’s houses on west campus. Looking for something even more impressive? Try some of the awesome culinary creations from the hotel school.
• Location. Originally, I only wanted to look at schools near the coast because I couldn’t imagine living away from the ocean. That opinion quickly changed. Plus, Ithaca sits at the southern end of 40 mile-long Cayuga Lake. Not bad. Ithaca, as a city of about 30,000 (not including college students), offers a lot more than you might think. We’re not surrounded by corn fields, contrary to what you might hear. The city has more restaurants per capita than New York City, and I can say from personal experience that the quality is top-notch. Finally, none of my friends from home can say they get to walk over a waterfall/gorge on their way to class every day.
• Diversity. Yeah, it’s an overused word, but the student body at Cornell stood out among the colleges I looked at. While there’s plenty of ethnic and religious diversity, what caught my attention is a) the huge range of interests that my classmates have, and b) the geographical range of the people I’ve met. My friends are studying everything from Design & Environmental Analysis to Applied & Engineering Physics, and the places they call home range from Ithaca, Rochester, and Syracuse to Paris, Tegucigalpa, and Shanghai.

If you’re an accepted student, I hope this has been relatively helpful. Post a comment with any further questions or suggestions for other Cornell-related topics you’d like me to blog about.

Cornell Days starts today, and I should be asleep, seeing as how I report for my first shift as a student ambassador at 7:30 this morning. For a variety of days between now and April 21st, Cornell students will be running the show, organizing activities and providing information for accepted students and their families. Over the next couple of weeks, I look forward to getting to know some of the 2012-ers. So make the trip to East Hill if you get a chance. Come check out Cornell and see what it’s all about (at least taste the ice cream).

Within the next couple of days, I’ll post an entry that explains how I came to choose Cornell. Hopefully some of you perplexed seniors might find it helpful. For now, I’m off to bed. It’s been a busy week…and it’s not over yet.

Coming to Cornell, I knew I was in a musical minority as a fan of trance music. Lots of people couldn’t even describe it if you asked them to, and I didn’t know anyone at home in Connecticut who listened to the genre voluntarily. To my surprise, I came across at least a few fellow freshmen who shared my taste in music at orientation in August ‘06. Any Person, Any Study Genre.

Needless to say, I’ve never been overly excited by the offerings provided to the community by the Cornell Concert Commission (CCC). Nothing against their choices, seeing as how pleasing the masses works best when deciding on who we should be bringing to campus. They’ve brought a lot of big names to the hill, this year and every year. If you want a list, here it is.

Through the wonder that is facebook, the CCC snuck up on me a few weeks ago. What was this? The letters D and J? Could it be!? YES! DJ Yahel, Israel’s #1 DJ, and #28 in the world, is performing a set in Barton Hall! Maybe someone read my post way back in October when I proposed the idea of a Barton Hall rave? Sure, he’s no Tiësto, but it makes no difference to me as long as people are dancing and having a good time. He’s produced an impressive lineup of singles over his career, while he also has worked on a variety of remixes of other trance artists’ work.

I’m hoping the event, which is being held in celebration of Israel’s 60th birthday, will attract more than the ~300 attendees currently listed on facebook, but the timing (a Thursday night) isn’t going to work in anyone’s favor. It is free of charge, however. Cornellians, let’s face it, you’re most likely not doing homework at 10PM on a Thursday anyways. So head over to Barton Hall and enjoy yourself for a couple of hours on April 17th. You won’t regret it.

Related Links:

DJ Yahel [Official Site]
DJ Yahel’s Myspace [Myspace]
Cornell Concert Commission [Official Site]
Yahel @ Cornell (Facebook Event) [Facebook]

[Image: DJYahel.com]

On Saturday night, some Hotelies from Hotel Administration 305 (Restaurant Management) presented their group project to the public - the first such offering from the course, according to one of the students. The Statler Hotel’s Taverna Banfi was brought to Trillium, the main dining hall on the agriculture quad. The event, named Taverna at Trillium, offered a student-organized and student-prepared three-course meal for $30. Rebecca Weiss, senior writer at the Daily Sun, and I covered the event for the paper. Walking in, I was awestruck by how well they had changed the ambience of Trillium from the typical bustling dining hall where winding through the aisles in search of a table is a regular occurrence at peak lunch hour, to a much more peaceful and attractive setting. Tables were spaced further apart than usual, and tablecloths replaced used copies of the Daily Sun as table coverings.

The menu awaited us at our seats, and listed the fare for the evening:

Salad ~ Insalate
Banfi salad, hydroponic Bibb letuce, blue cheese, apples, dried cherries, maple vinaigrette

Main Course ~ Secondi
Grilled New York strip steak, sea salt, rosemary oil, balsamic vinegar

Sweet ~ Dolci
White Chocolate Mascarpone Parfait with berries and crushed amaretti cookies

We had arrived relatively soon after the event started, so about a third of the tables in the room were occupied. Rebecca was going to see BJ Novak (Ryan from The Office) soon after dinner, so we ate relatively early. While I’m not in any way a trained food critic, I thought each course was excellent (once again, like at the Daryl Schembeck dinner earlier this month, dessert was a big hit) and each of the HA 305 students we interacted with was very professional. A surprise course was thrown into the meal, as well. A Gnocchi dish (pictured above) came between the salad and the main course.

I’m hoping the hotel school will continue to put on events like these. They provide a showcase for hotelies’ skills and achievements, of which I knew basically nothing before attending the dinners I’ve been to this year and having read Jenna’s blog. At the end of the meal, we received a short evaluation to fill out regarding our experience. All in all, a job well done.