Op-Ed
Running Forwards
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Walking Backwards
May 1, 2007 - 11:28pmEven as an innocent naïve freshman, I liked Cornell University history. I had read the Morris Bishop and Carl Becker books, and they had piqued my interest in the subject. When spring semester rolled along, I felt the need to spout nuggets of Cornell knowledge nonstop. Needless to say, this quickly became annoying to my high school classmates, my mealtime companions and anyone who sat by me in lecture.
In order to find a healthy outlet for this affliction, I applied to be one of the noble tour guides at Campus Information and Visitor Relations. These individuals aren’t just tour guides — according to their job titles, they’re Information Specialists. In my first round interview, I thought I had suitably wowed the staff there by quoting statistics on Cornell’s lower-than-rumored suicide rate and explaining away dorm shortages by comparing them to the lack of available campus housing following World War II. They invited me back for two more interviews.
Alas, after the third interview, I received a note saying that CIVR was unable to offer me employment at that time. So, I applied again a few months later. After three more successful rounds of interviews, my dreams of joining the elite corps of tour guides were once again shattered. The opportunity to get paid for falling down stairways and blindly backing into fire hydrants and fences would forever be denied to me.
After the second rejection from CIVR, I inquired as to why my job aspirations had failed. Was my obvious clumsiness that much of a liability to someone whose job involves weaving through hordes of undergraduates? Was it odd that I explained the entire history of Cornell’s short-lived College of Forestry when someone asked me about a certain tree on campus?
My problem was far worse than I expected. The e-mail I received stated that I wasn’t hired because I wasn’t an “Average Joe.” I was apparently an Abnormal Corey instead.
Indeed, my Cornell experience has been rather different than that of most students. I’m a local — a proud townie who already knew and loved Ithaca before enrolling at Cornell. My grandfather was a professor here, and my father has been on the faculty since before I was born, so I already knew the campus and many of the individuals on it. I never lived on campus until my senior year, instead choosing to save money and hang out with my awesome parents for the first three years.
Fortunately, my status as an Abnormal Corey was noticed by the Division of Rare & Manuscript Collections at Kroch Library, and I was hired there in the summer before sophomore year. My rejection by CIVR gave me the opportunity to work in one of Cornell’s most overlooked and exciting places: the University Archives. If there’s one thing that this column has always emphasized, it’s that Cornell University’s history is pretty darn abnormal. It was a perfect fit for me. Perhaps the moral of the story is not to let disappointments get in your way; there’s always another opportunity waiting for you right around the corner.
When I began my column in October 2005, the search for a title took careful thought. Ideas included Echoes From the Walls, Bleeding Big Red or Behind the Ivy. In the end, I settled on Walking Backwards. Not only does the title refer to my experience at CIVR, but it also pays tribute to the hardworking CIVR employees who educate thousands about the Cornell trivia and factoids for which I’m passionate. In more than one way, the title alludes to the past; it was my hope that the column would walk readers backwards through Cornell’s history.
In my first published column, The Sun listed the wrong column title and put the wrong e-mail address in the footer. On the website, they had somehow rearranged the words in the title so that they lost all meaning. Yet, after surviving this creative method of hazing, I’m still here one and a half years later. As one of Cornell’s most historical institutions, The Cornell Daily Sun will always be close to my heart despite its occasional flaws.
It has been a joy to author my 26 columns, and I thank the two or three people who may have actually read them all. Making history entertaining isn’t always easy, but I hope that I succeeded occasionally. I’m certain that the experience of writing these columns has taught me far more than anyone learned by simply reading them.
Learn about your alma mater. Read Morris Bishop’s A History of Cornell. Visit the Kroch Library archives. Read The Sun. Write for The Sun. Stalk a tour guide around campus.
Most importantly, appreciate Cornell University.
Although I always planned on omitting shoutouts from my final column, I decided to come full circle by taking the advice of CIVR and being an “Average Joe” this time:
To my mom for her guidance, support and everything else. To my favorite professor, who also happens to be my dad. To my best friend, who also happens to be my older brother. To my brothers and sisters of a different sort as well.
To Ezra and Andy for making Cornell possible. To Charles, Jacob, Livingston, Edmund, Deane, James, Dale and Frank for making Cornell what it is today. To Hunter, Jeff and David for presiding over my years at Cornell.
To Teefy, Davy, Theodore, Jennie and both Willards for giving us songs to sing and stories to tell. To SMurph, Kent and Biddy for truly caring about Cornell and its students.
To Elaine and the RMC staff for preserving history. To Scott, John, Kathy and the Glee Club and Chorus for making music. To the Sunnies for dedicating your nights to a newspaper.
To Morris Bishop and Carl Becker.
To the faculty, staff and administrators. To the students. To Cornellians.
To the past. To the future.
To the Hill. To the Tower. To Cornell.
Corey Earle is a senior in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. He can be contacted at cre8@cornell.edu. Walking Backwards appeared alternate Wednesdays.
I've always enjoyed your
I've always enjoyed your columns and they have truely engendered a sense of pride of the Cornell Community, for me at least. The Daily Sun is certainly going to suffer a loss next year. Good luck in the future!