On That Hill With Everything I’ve Got

The not-too-shabby view of Carl Becker House and Cayuga Lake from my room in West Campus is a terrible reminder of everything I’m not doing today. I’m inside this morning trying to figure out the vexing problem of what I should study for the the rest of my semester in Stats. I’m truly excited to actually do the multivariate analysis, but choosing a topic has proved itself to be way more difficult than I anticipated. The main hitch is that I need at least 70 cases to write something worthwhile, so Springsteen albums (23) are out. I can’t study song frequency either, since trying to quantify the religious experience that is a concert is pretty close to impossible. I’ve considered studying the election, but Ms. Cynical American Teenager has kind of had enough of the conventions and can’t wait for November 4. Historical analyses are tricky, too, so I’ve basically exhausted my interests: politics, history, and the Boss. Maybe brunch at our beloved RPCC on North Campus, a mainstay of the Cornell freshman experience, will spark some creativity?

All five my of my classes are looking great. Even though I’m in fewer credits than last semester, I know I’m in for a challenge, both in content and volume. The work sounds pretty awesome so far: I have a total of three papers which are essentially extended statistical analysis in any subject I choose. I can’t help but feeling like I’m getting academic credit for investigating things I’ve wondered about since I got to ILR.

This is also the first semester where I get to see the “interdisciplinary” angle of ILR that makes it so unique. My Labor Econ and Labor Law classes have overlapped at least six times since classes started last Thursday. I keep reminding myself that there are very few undergrads in the U.S. who get the chance to study all of these subjects together, which makes for such an unbeatable experience.

On the flipside, I think I should hand my GPA to my Labor Econ professor right now, and I had to drop $132 for a leather bound Labor Law textbook. I keep coming up with excuses not to work out (too tired, too much reading, the pool is all the way up the slope, I’ll die with wet hair in the subzero temperatures of 105 Ives…) and my standing meal dates are all up in the air (anyone looking for lunch company on MWF?) I am a hopeless creature of habit, and I love my routines. It’s just a matter of time before all of this semester falls into place.

The usual stampede that is Add/Drop began this morning with none of the rage, tears, or running down the hallway of the previous two I’ve witnessed. Our new software bumped this rite-of-passage event from 6:30 a.m. to a reasonable 10 a.m., and I suppose that these things don’t seem quite as bad when they take place in the daytime. Though none of us have been able to even log in yet, no one is really panicking. I’m chalking this up to my residence in upperclassman housing: I suppose we’re seasoned veterans who know not to worry.

Pre-enroll was freaking miraculous for me last semester, so I’m only online trying to drop one class and add another: a Phys Ed instead of an academic class, how appropriate! Since I need to resuscitate my wounded GPA, I’m unfortunately dropping a three hundred-level Anthro class I would ordinarily love to take. Thursday morning Yoga, here I hopefully come.

Orientation Week is winding to a close, which mostly means I can finally wash the “Orientation Volunteer” shirt I’ve (eww) been wearing since Friday. I’m looking forward to getting into the rhythm of classes and routine pool hours, even though it will mean less time for all of the fun I’ve had this week. I’ve met many new people and explored many new restaurants. I also got to enjoy cheating at “Clue” and the hilarity of wheeling an office chair from our friend’s room in Cascadilla Hall to West Campus…

I’ve watched little bit of Democratic National Convention here and there (amen for streaming C-SPAN!) but I can’t help but feeling like a cynical, jaded teenager when I contemplate how my faith in the Democratic Party has eroded since 2004. Senator Kennedy’s speech still rocked, though, and I thought Senator Clinton brought down the house… but I can’t shake the feeling that I’m just half-heartedly waiting through the speeches for Bruce Springsteen’s surprise appearance. Thursday night, I swear.

This time last year, on the eve of move-in day, I was sitting in a hotel room with my nervous parents in Sayre, Pennsylvania (why you should make reservations now.) I poured over my Orientation Guide and trying to make a schedule of everything I wanted to do. One year later, as a sophomore and Orientation Leader, I am about to help the same nervous freshmen build their lives at Cornell and Mews Hall…. in about six hours. I spent tonight in my room in Hans Bethe House trying to make a schedule of everything I have to do, complete with consecutive 7 a.m. to midnight days. Am I really pulling all-nighters before classes even start?

It’s all an eerie sense of de ja vu, only this time I got a Lincoln Shirt and an insane amount of volunteer hours out of it. Just as I did last year, I pretended to not have read the New Student Reading Project because I’m way too cool for it. (Though, no lie, I read and immensely enjoyed Lincoln at Gettysburg.) I even got phone numbers but no last names, introduced myself to strangers while hanging up welcome letters on the doors of our freshmen, and almost lost my keys. You can go home again?

Training, a two-day affair, was actually quite enjoyable. It not easy to keep eight hundred Cornell students inside on a beautiful day, but the Orientation Steering Committee managed to make it lighthearted and fun. Making us laugh at the ungodly hour of  8:45 was some impressive work, too.

It’s been a crazy whirlwind of seeing old friends and making new ones, especially putting names to the faces of ILRies I see all the time in Catherwood. We’re trying to get creative with the icebreakers: “name, hometown, favorite notable labor conflict of the twentieth century…”

I’m pumped for move-in day tomorrow, even the waking up at 6:30 part. A smooth move-in is simply the right way to get started in a new place, so I’m hoping my big smile and classy Orientation nametag will help the new residents of Mews live up to the standard we set last year.

As per usual, I have a good feeling about all this.

Welcome everybody (ok, mom…) to my Life on the Hill blog! I am thrilled to be here and looking forward to my official start as a blogger just a few months. The entries will begin when I return to Ithaca on August 19 as an Orientation Leader for new Cornellians. In the meantime, check out my About Me, Academics, and Choosing Cornell sections. Leave a comment or drop me a line anytime.

Though legit thrilled to get back to school, my friends, and my home in Ives Hall, I am having an awesome summer as a Legislative Intern at the National Archives. Its Center for Legislative Archives, where I work, is responsible for preserving the records of Congress in addition to important public outreach functions. I work with people who love talking history as much as I do and have actually made a living out of it! (An additional shout-out to my fellow interns and history junkies Lauren and Liz.) We are doing a good deal of background research on the historical context and important players- seriously, ask me anything about Henry Clay- in events where Congress has shaped American history. Our work is a perfect intersection of history and politics, and whether or not it gives me any career direction, I am loving what I’m doing.

Summer should continue to literally continue to rock: I’m taking a brief break from War Hawks and Radical Republicans to catch my second Bruce Springsteen show this summer! I also think I’m in for a fabulous sophomore year, though it has very big shoes to fill.