July 8: Wrapping Up

We've reached the middle of our last week at Cornell, and it is still hard to believe that we are coming to the end. I truly believe I will not hit me until I land at SFO on Saturday evening. While I am still absorbing my surroundings, I am excited to see some familiar faces at home. Till then, I must document every last Cornellian detail to my favorite audience.

Today's schedule called for its usual events: breakfast, lecture, discussion section, lunch and one last discussion section. Today's topic was Marx again, so unfortunately, there isn't too much to comment on! My favorite part of today was our 2nd discussion section. During the session, we split into pairs and were assigned a philosopher to fill out a worksheet on. I was placed with Conor, a rising junior from Indiana. We mutually decided to select Locke because we found him both interesting and easy to break down. We will be typing up our philosopher summaries and emailing them to Des, who will make packets of the philosophers for each student. It will be a great study guide for Friday's final.

After classes, we met up with Mr. Crossley to check-in and discuss Saturday's itinerary. Apparently, there was a small issue with our flight plan, but it was resolved and we WILL be in California on Saturday night. Following our small gathering with Mr. Crossley, Julia, Ramiah and I met with Abby Eller, Summer College's director, for a meeting. During the meeting, we were asked very comfortable questions, such as how we are enjoying things, what can be improved, and how we feel we have grown. Mrs. Eller is an extremely warm-hearted person, and I hope to keep in contact with her following my experience at Cornell.

Tonight's plans include the finishing of my Plato essay revision, dinner at Appel, office hours with Des, and the readings of MLK and Malcolm X. These will be our last set of readings, and I am very excited to finally read these historic civil rights leaders.

Mr. Ramsey posed a few questions in my last blog's comments, so I'd like to take the chance to answer them. On the topic of the East Coast, I'm finding the experience very different from California. This can be determined by just the lack of sun and abundance of rain. While the people are kind and motivated at Cornell, I appreciate West Coast life. Simply, I feel more comfortable in California, and this trip has reinforced that. I enjoy my faculty and fellow students, but I cannot see myself spending 4+ years on the East Coast. While these may seem like shallow reasons to prefer the West Coast, I have more substantive reasons for expecting to remain on the West Coast. I am very interested in attending a school that has specific, prestigious programs in biological sciences, or more specifically, environmental science. This is why I appreciate Stanford so much. They have a great integrated Bachelor's and Master's Degree program in Environmental Science. Aside from the great location and prestigious title, Stanford is what I'm looking for in terms of academia. Unfortunately, Cornell has no such program, so I cannot envision myself going here, even though I have learned so much during this opportunity.

In regards to homesickness, I think we've all felt it at one point or another. I miss my family and friends everyday, but I know that Summer College, during this three week period, is my priority. There is no doubt that I will be running to my mom and dad at SFO on Saturday, but I am absorbing every last Cornell second I have hear. I love home, but I love this East Coastern opportunity, as well. For that, I can only say thank you to all of my gracious sponsors and kind audience.