At what point it will sink in I am not entirely certain. The first day of class? Spring Break? Graduation? Whenever it happens, this year marks the fourth and final year of college for me and many of my classmates. Some people will get sentimental, some people will get angry and others will probably be flat out confused. As I start my senior year, I am actually trying to overlook the fact that I will be leaving Cornell after this year. Sure it is naïve and maybe even ignorant, but I have always been a fan of existentialism. Every day we artificially try to claim that a segment of our lives or a facet of our personalities is going to end. Ever heard someone say, “I swear I’m never drinking again,” or “This semester I’m going to stop sleeping in during my Friday morning class”? Though these may be special examples, things seem to have a way of perpetuating themselves. In this light, instead of making this column overly sentimental and outright unreadable, I want to set out a few goals of mine for the upcoming year. I was never much of a fan of New Year’s resolutions but hopefully I will have some luck following through with a few of these:
1) Get into Harvard Law School. Okay, maybe this one is a little bit of a stretch, but why not. As much as academics may not be my top priority this year, I still want to take care of business. The LSAT exam is on Oct. 9, my applications are already in the works and hopefully I can round up a letter of recommendation or two. Sure, the legal market these days is dismal, but grad school sounds so much more appealing that a dreaded “real job.”
2) Take most of my classes outside of ILR. Don’t get me wrong, I am as big of a labor relations fanatic and collective bargaining feign as the rest of you, but it really is time to expand my horizons. With almost all of my core graduation requirements fulfilled, I am excited to work on that thing they call culture and take some classes in the other schools at Cornell. If anyone else is enrolled in Freud, Nietzsche and Marx this semester or wants to take Stardom next semester hit me up, we can share (you can copy) my notes.
3) Explore some of the restaurants and attractions outside of Collegetown. Finally giving in and forking over an absurd fee for parking, I brought my pimped out (broken down) 2000 Mazda up to school this year. Since I doubt it can handle anything over two inches of snow, my timeframe is a little tight and I am moving on this goal already. I hear Ithaca actually has some unique and tasty restaurants besides CTP and Jack’s, so if you have any recommendations please share. I am a huge fan of local and craft beer if you are looking for bonus points.
4) Try to tailor my bi-weekly column to things more “college related”. I have been a columnist for a few years now and my articles tend to tackle politics, economics and current events. While I will continue to write on these things and am currently particularly interested in the Ground Zero Mosque debate, I want to shift my focus to a slightly more collegiate theme. If it all really does end after this year, I may as well rant about glorious college life while I’m still living it.
5) Make the most of my schedule containing only Tuesday and Thursday classes. Before you jump to the only partially accurate conclusion that I have already become a lazy senior, I do still have my law school applications, honors thesis and column to occupy myself. Nevertheless, after working way too many 60-hour workweeks this summer, I am already salivating over the free time I should have this semester. I imagine some of it will be spent trying to accomplish these goals and some of it trying to check items off the list of 161 things every Cornellian should do before they graduate.
These are a few of the more appropriate and realistic goals I have for my senior year. I recommend you create a list of your own, apparently this whole jig may be up before we even realize it. Shaun Werbelow is a senior in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. He may be contacted at [email protected]. Second Opinion appears alternate Mondays this semester.
Original Author: Shaun Werbelow