|
Class of 2012
2012 Abroad: Paris, France
Tuesday, January 10 2012 16:01
Ilana Gilovich
2012 Abroad
I have so enjoyed the past several weeks in Paris— sitting in the Place des Vosges, watching people smoke and lounge as the scent of burnt corn and fall clings to everything, seeing Romeo and Juliet in French at the Odeon Theater and recognizing those familiar words in a foreign tongue, exploring the northern city of Lille and tasting the world’s best hot chocolate, and spending a gloriously sunny October day in the gardens of Versailles, rowing out on the water and riding bikes to Marie Antoinette’s lake-side hamlet.
Two weekends ago we experienced a miniature America-within-Paris by taking a trip to Disneyland Paris, and I experienced the comic collision of two worlds— eating croque-monsieurs in the cafes of the fictional “Main Street USA”, hearing all of the rides dubbed, and even listening to characters babbling away in French behind their large stuffed heads. Of course, as soon as we stepped out of “the place where dreams come true” and onto the subway towards Paris later that evening, the magic ended rather abruptly as a little boy promptly began vomiting on the crowded metro, spraying puke onto my friends’ shoes, and a strange man “groped” me from behind, to put it delicately, and would not cease until I had to physically hit him, which was awful. Ah, Paris— home sweet home.
But all sarcasm aside, one of my favorite things about my French week is meeting my friends after dance class for our “weekly Wednesdays at the Louvre”, which has become a tradition ever since we realized the museum is open until 9:30pm on Wednesday evenings and thus blissfully free of the usual crowds. I have found that the fact that the museum is so big releases me rather than overwhelms me— I simply give over to being lost in its depths with the knowledge that there will always be something new to see. I am also always acutely aware of how lucky we are to have all of this preserved so perfectly in present-day; I can see how a place like Napoleon’s apartment could have been seen as an emblem of the bourgeoisie and thus something to be torn down.
As always, I am continually processing and attempting to define my relationship with Paris. Recently, I realized that I could compare my current abroad experience to my Cornell experience as a whole. When I first began college as a wide-eyed freshman, I registered for classes that sounded fascinating— courses that covered Ancient Egyptian Civilization, Art History, all different types of literature, etc. It was only as an upperclassman that I finally understood one crucial thing— that subject matter, matters, much less than you’d think. For me, it was the great professors that seemed important, and as long as I knew that those individuals could deliver information to me in a captivating way, I was willing to learn from them, regardless of the specific realm of academia.
As I’ve come to know it, Paris feels like a class with a great course listing and a rather mediocre professor. There couldn’t be a more architecturally beautiful city, with better museums, and more delectable food— namely, the content of the Parisian class is spot-on. However, when I interned in New York City this summer, I felt so alive— the smog, the heat, the less-than-stunning industrial buildings were all on the periphery, irrelevant, whereas the palpable vibrant energy that veritably shook the streets was always on the forefront of my mind. I couldn’t even listen to my ipod on my walk to work, because I wanted to tune into the vibe that makes NYC what it is— a hodge-podge course requirement taught by a charismatic professor who blows your mind.
In essence, Paris seems like a place where one could overdose on culture to his or her heart’s content, but still leave feeling malnourished in terms of bliss and spontaneity. However, I can hardly blame the Parisians for this— in fact, in an ironic twist of fate, I recently perpetuated this notion myself. I was waiting for the tram back from dance at around 9:30pm (or, in military/French time, 21:30), and as I stood on the platform, a man in his thirties approached me with a simple “Bonjour, Madamemoiselle”. He seemed on the verge of launching into a more extended speech, and therefore I gave him a rather stern look and said “what?” (in French) somewhat expectantly.
The reason for my coldness was merely past experience. My next statement is of course a blatant generalization, but from what I have seen, Parisian males make drunken college frat boys look like gentlemen. In that moment, I was instantly put on my guard, assuming that he was either going to a. beg me for money, b. try and pickpocket me, or c. pull a metro-man and start to grab me inappropriately. None of these suspicions were out of the question, mind you, because all of them had occurred before. However, in this case the potential thief/attacker/homeless man turned out to be a perfectly innocent Italian tourist, who asked me how to get to the metro in broken— and sincere— French. I felt awful.
In his mind, he had just met another stand-offish Parisian, not knowing that I understood how he felt perfectly! And yet, I also felt I needed to be wary and on my guard, due to those other experiences. I suddenly understood the self-perpetuating cycle of French stereotypes, but could not devise a means of eliminating them— and still can’t. It is a Parisian catch-22!
|
Spotlight: Amanda Mazzota
My name is Amanda Mazzotta and I am a Human Development major in the College of Human Ecology at Cornell. I was born and raised in London, Ontario, Canada, which is about a 5 hour drive from Cornell. Prior to Cornell, I spent four years at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Secondary School.
This year, I am a senior on the Women’s Ice Hockey team. Hockey has been my life since I was quite young, but playing at Cornell has really taken that to the next level. We live and breathe hockey – we practice at 7am every morning, and play on the weekends. It can be hectic at times, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. My teammates and coaches have truly shaped my experience at Cornell so far. We have a committed, hard working, relentless group of athletes and thanks to those attributes we have had two very successful previous seasons. We have won 2 Ivy League Championships, 2 ECAC Regular seasons, 2 ECAC Tournament Championships, and have made it to the Frozen Four twice. My sophomore season, we lost a heartbreaker in the National Championship to Minnesota-Duluth, in triple overtime. This past season, we lost in the semi-finals to Boston University. We are hoping for another successful season on the ice, and we are off to a good start! I am also a member of the Red Key Athlete Honor Society on campus, which is a group of athletes participating in a variety of community service events.
Outside of Cornell, I am a member of The Hockey Canada Development Program. I have participated on the U-18 National team, and am now a member of the U-22 National Development Team with 6 of my Cornell teammates. On December 27th we are headed to Slovakia and Germany for the Meco Cup, a tournament against the National Teams from Finland, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, and Russia. I am extremely honored to have the opportunity to play for my country; it’s always exciting to put on the Canadian jersey.
As for my plans for after Cornell, well, like many seniors I don’t think I’m quite ready to leave! I do hope to pursue a career in which I can combine sports and medicine of some kind, two things that I am passionate about. I also plan to continue playing hockey in the CWHL (Canadian Women’s Hockey League). I’m looking forward to the remainder of my senior year; hopefully it will be a year to remember!
Spotlight: Sean Donegan
Sean Donegan, hailing from Avon, New York, is a senior in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The oldest of three, Sean is the son of William and Mary Donegan and is a third generation Cornellian. He is pursuing a double major in Animal Science and Neurobiology with minors in Global Health and International Studies, and hopes to enroll in medical school after graduation. He is also a Senior Research Fellow in the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Sean is very involved in campus philanthropy. This semester, he has organized several prominent Greek events such as "Barbeque on the Quad" and "A Night for Ingrid," raising over eight thousand dollars for the Wambui Mungai Children's Home in Kenya and the cancer treatment of Ingrid Nuñez, respectively. Currently, he is working on a collaboration between eight other Greek houses to raise over $6,000 for Share Our Strength. He is also the co-founder of The Donegan-Hoffman Foundation, and serves as the Philanthropy Chair of the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity.
Sean is also involved on campus as the President of Order of Omega, the Greek Honor Society. During his presidency, the Order of Omega has garnered its largest applicant pool in recent memory. The Honor Society has also started a tradition of semesterly charity banquets to benefit a student in need. He was selected by the Cornell Board of Trustees to be the student speaker at the transition dinner honoring the legacy of outgoing CALS Dean Susan Henry, and welcoming Dean Kathryn Boor '80 into office.
Since freshman year, he has been an active member of the Men's Varsity Polo team, and the Cornell University Dairy Society. Within the Greek Interfraternity Council, Sean has served full terms as a member of the Judicial Board, President's Special Task Force, and as the first IFC LGTBQ Liason to the Student Assembly.
In medical school, Sean hopes to concentrate in sports medicine, giving him the chance to work with young athletes on their road to recovery. Later in life, he would like to spend part of his time in a Third World setting working with organizations such as Médecins Sans Frontiéres to battle neglected tropical diseases.
Saturday, August 27 2011 10:34
Annabel
Welcome back to Ithaca!
I can’t believe the final countdown is on. Isn’t it great to be back on campus again? The hustle and bustle of new students around campus brings back fond memories of my first year here, but more so, excitement to be returning to Cornell as senior. I can still vividly remember our freshman orientation like it was yesterday. It just does not seem like it was three years ago.
Thankfully, with three years of experience we are accustomed to the inner workings of Cornell. As seniors, it’s about leaving our legacy, solidifying friendships and creating unifying events that leave memories which will last a lifetime. 2012 deserves nothing but the best and your class council wants to do all we can to make this year as exciting, rewarding and successful as possible for each of you!
In order to do this we need your suggestions. If you have a free moment, please fill this short survey out to let us know what you would like for your class: (http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2012_SeniorYearSuggestions) and as always remember to keep checking our official website (www.classof2012.cornell.edu) to receive updates about: Class events, Convocation, Commencement, Senior Week, Zinck’s Senior Discounts, Class Apparel & more! Here's to you, seniors! I hope you're ready for an awesome final year!
Sincerely,
Annabel Fowler
Class of 2012 President
Spotlight: John Yoshida
 My name is John Yoshida and I am currently a dual-degree student majoring in Applied & Engineering Physics and Economics. Although Cornell thinks I am currently Class of 2013 (I could only vote for Class of 2013 council elections), I am a senior and am part of Class of 2012! I have lived in 4 different towns on Long Island growing up, but was born in Virginia.
Although most of my coursework revolves around engineering now, I plan on pursuing a career in business with the goal of working on the business side of an engineering and technology company. As someone who has never taken real business classes, I took this past summer to find an opportunity to be able to learn about different business industries and how to analyze a company. I was able to intern for the M&A group within the Investment Banking Division at Morgan Stanley, which turned out far beyond my expectations. Despite the 80+ hour weeks and lack of weekends, the experience I was able to glean from the different projects / deals I was staffed on was an excellent way to push my learning beyond what I've gotten so far from Cornell. I was especially surprised by the amount of responsibility I was given, often allowed to run with tasks entirely on my own.
On campus I'm looking forward to an exciting year working on a lot of great projects. I am a co-team leader for the Sustainable Research Facility for Cornell University Sustainable Design (see Jeremy Blum's spotlight below!) which is truly a student-driven initiative to help advance sustainability in a unique way through design-build. I am also heavily involved in the Mutual Investment Club of Cornell, the largest and oldest undergraduate investment club, and Delta Sigma Pi. In my free time, you can often find me in one of the dance studios on campus or Helen Newman Hall practicing or on a stage performing for charity as part Absolute Zero Breakdance Club (Azero). Give me a shout if you're interested in having Azero perform!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Page 1 of 3 |
|
|
