At the start of our final semester at Cornell, worried that time was running out to check everything off our college bucket lists, we attended the Cornell Alumni Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C. From the moment we entered the hotel, we were overwhelmed with enthusiastic, excited alumni.

I’m lazy. Really lazy. But I want a lot out of life. I want a huge house and a lifetime of lavish vacations. I never bothered to think about how I would get any of this because so far, my life has been a cakewalk. When I graduated, my parents gently shoved me out of the nest, but I wasn’t worried about financing my fancy lifestyle.

So I was originally planning to stay out of the debate on the Student Trustee election this semester for two reasons: One, I am a graduating senior and the trustee we elect will not represent me directly.

Life is complicated. As Cornell students, we all have busy lives. I’m a Ph.D. student in engineering, and my schedule is always packed with research, teaching, writing and meetings, not to mention my non-academic pursuits. So when something comes along that simplifies life — something that shakes the world, filtering out the things that are truly important to me — I bite.

To some students, the term “byline funding” lacks any real meaning or significance; to many Cornellians, however, this phrase is incredibly important and oftentimes highly contentious. The truth is, byline funding affects every student at Cornell in some way. Every other year, more than $6 million of student tuition is allocated to the largest student organizations on campus.

Our generation of college graduates is suffocated by the freedom of choice.  As a society, we value personal agency and initiative, but the seemingly boundless opportunities from which we derive much anticipatory glee can be the Achilles’ heel of an inquisitive soul.

The American dream is the narrative that hard work alone guarantees everyone success, regardless of race, religion or creed. This beautiful fable assumes the American experience is post-racial, egalitarian and free of institutional oppression. 

We Cornellians pride ourselves on many things: our outstanding hockey team, our beautiful campus, the impressive definition on our calves due to all the inclined walking we have to do. But I am most proud of the progressive nature of this University.