So, in trying to decide what to write about for this week, I thought about what fun it would be to just write about myself (hey everyone — be my friend!!), I’m a local, right? But, in retrospect, that probably wasn’t the best idea (hey everyone — be my friend … I’m desperate!!). I still felt like there was an itty-bitty bit of an idea there, though. Hey, wait! Townies! I’m a townie, I know lots of other townies — I could talk to the townies! So I did. I annoyingly Facebook-stalked and solicited stories from 23 local Cornellians, some of whom I knew and a few who I didn’t — those were the ones who filed restraining orders (not really). In the end, nine of the 23 agreed to help me out, and for that, I would like to thank them… Thank You Duncan, Allison, Libby, Francis, Robin, John, Jenny, Zhaleh and Tyler.
The students I solicited came from all walks of Cornell, though not from all walks of life. ‘Cause they’re townies, you see, they all came from the same place. Actually though, the students I asked to help me out came from Ithaca, Trumansburg and a few other nearby towns, including Dryden, Spencer and Waverly. There was a slight response bias though. I’m taking stats now, I’m sure Professor Ünür will appreciate this lovely statistical reference — I only hope I’ve actually used it correctly (judging by my last prelim… probably not). In any case, the nine who replied represent only Trumansburg and Ithaca. Surprisingly, they are not all people I knew beforehand. Neat.
Now, I expected to be able to write this about the general trends I found in my interviewees’ responses — why they wanted to go to Cornell, what they like about it, etc. But in fact there was a lot of variation. (Though disliking the winters was pretty unanimous.)
First off, why do townies choose to stay in town and attend Cornell University, a place they probably know like the back of their hand? Apparently, for a lot of different reasons — for the love of Ithaca, the appeal of a specific program or even entirely by accident. Francis Mulcahy ’10, an IHS (Ithaca High School) grad, always knew he wanted to go to Cornell: “I knew that it was an amazing school in an area that I knew I really enjoyed. I didn’t want to take the chance of going to another school that I might hate.”
Zhaleh Amini ’09 (another IHS grad), on the other hand, never intended to attend Cornell: “Even though I really like Ithaca, I never wanted to go to school in my hometown. During high school I looked at a lot of schools and I realized that I actually like Cornell more than most of them, and that Cornell had a very strong Chemistry program.”
Duncan Anderson ’11 and Libby Gaige ’09, both of Trumansburg, also cited outstanding programs, AEM and dairy science respectively, as one of the main reasons why they ended up, well, right back where they started.
Personally, I fall under the accidental category. When people hear that I’m a local born and raised they usually give me one of two responses: either, “Oh wow, did you always want to go to Cornell?” or “Oh God, I could never go to school in my hometown.” But really, I never made a conscious decision either way. I liked Cornell and applied, and as it turned out, it ended up being my favorite school among the few I got into (suck it Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth). In the end, I’m so glad it turned out as it did. I love Cornell! And CALS. And I really like being able to see my family. And I really like Ithaca.
So secondly, how do Cornell locals feel now that they’re here … even though they never left. Actually, two of them did leave after high school, and transferred back home to Cornell. Robin Seegers ’10 is spending her first semester here right now, after transferring from Case Western, and says she is glad to be home: “After spending a year in Bolivia and three semesters in Cleveland, I realized that I missed the interesting people, the scenery, Wegmans and some of my favorite places to go out … Cornell really does have so many different opportunities.”
For many of us, though, there is a general consensus that we like not having to travel, like being able to take our laundry home and like being able to see our families on a regular basis. John Zinder ’09 said that “growing up in Ithaca gives one a unique and wonderful outlook on life, and it’s something I’ve had the pleasure of sharing with my fellow townie Cornellians in the years since I arrived. Also, I avoided hanging out with my parents like the plague my first year here, but now look forward to our bi-weekly or sometimes more often dinners and meetings. Sometimes I even house-sit for them when they’re away just to see my pets again.”
At the same time, others are ready to go. Tyler Armstrong ’09 and Fritts-Penniman have both enjoyed Cornell and Ithaca, but are looking forward to exploring new places after graduation. Jenny Fitzgerald ’11 has mixed feelings. Although she likes having easy access to her old friends, she also said: “It would have been nice to get out of Ithaca and just have the experience of learning a new town. The town itself is kind of boring to me now, you can only go do everything so many times, and my friends and I often find our selves spending late nights driving around and visiting the State Diner and Wegmans.”
The majority of us feel, I think, that Ithaca as a Cornell student is radically different from Ithaca normally, and that up here on the hill, we barely feel like we’re in the same town. Libby Gaige ’09 put it well: “I was a little worried at first about going to school so close to home, but some kids I went to high school with told me that it's only close to home if you want it to be — something I've definitely found to be true. It's great to be able to go home for a quick visit when I need a break from Cornell, but Cornell is definitely a separate world from the rest of Ithaca.”
Thanks all, we’ve been great. See you next time.