Dear Seniors,
The culmination of your four years at Cornell is captured in a group photo by the clock tower, a candid by the Law School and a champagne pop on the steps of Goldwin Smith Hall. Plenty of prelims, essays and finals later, that’s it, right? This snapshot is everything.
Recently, I’ve had the pleasure of photographing a few graduation shoots. I zoom in on your caps and gowns and focus on your smiles at the end of this journey. Graduation photos are a special endeavor; they must say it all. As a sophomore, I can only imagine your excitement and anticipation for the future. Yet, I would be remiss not to mention the uncertainty underlying this moment.
When you enter the workforce and real life, there is a lot of fear and instability. The job landscape seems to be rapidly shifting regardless of one’s field. Yet I hope you take the lack of certainty not as an obstacle but rather as an opportunity to pave alternative paths in a moment that demands reinvention.
As the Class of 2026, you entered college in a freshly post-COVID environment. You have been forced to navigate this brave new world, with the rise of artificial intelligence distorting your coursework and job prospects. The bachelor’s degree used to mean a step towards achieving the American Dream, but that promise seems to be slipping into the past.
Tensions on campus are only growing. Over these past four years, you’ve borne witness to a fluctuation of protests, (driving) collisions between the administration and students and key political discussions, with an array of guests on campus. These incidents have imprinted on our college experience and irrevocably changed our perception of the U.S. political climate. Our University has faced pressure from our government and citizens alike who question its relevance to American society. Your college experience has been riddled with tension, change and political undercurrents.
However, when my shutter clicks, I do not capture that tension and polarization; my lens finds celebration, completion and an air of finality. It is a deep breath at the end of a long day.
It is easy to be washed in nostalgia or think years into the future. But for now, I hope you can all congratulate yourselves on this incredible journey. It is no simple feat to endure four years at Cornell. So please, take a deep breath and a final look at the slope. And maybe take a picture while you’re at it; it’ll last longer.
— Sophia Romanov Imber
Sophia Romanov Imber is a member of the Class of 2028 in the College of Arts and Sciences. She is the associate editor of the 144th Editorial Board. She is a former assistant arts editor of the 143rd Editorial Board. She can be reached at sromanovimber@cornellsun.com.
