Columns

SENZON | Put the Phone Down?

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It feels surreal to live in an age where everyone has access to the internet, allowing us to create a narrative of who we are, and what we stand for from the touch of our phone screens. The technological advancements in the past century have created unspoken interconnectedness, resulting in people giving their two cents where unneeded.

Or perhaps, people have become more out of touch than ever before. There is growing concern that we are living in a world where empathy is not prioritized, and people’s devices have become extensions of themselves. As someone who has grown up always having had access to the internet, it feels like second nature to pick up my phone upon the next buzz or ding. While it isn’t news that my generation has become increasingly reliant on technology to complete schoolwork, network and search for jobs, I feel this disconnect all the more in recent weeks.

Columns

OBASEKI | Dealing With The Coming Pandemic

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Something is spreading among the student population: a fast-approaching scourge that will inevitably infect a significant portion of Cornell and other schools alike. Specific to seniors, this condition risks a student’s mental, academic and even physical well-being. Often dismissed jokingly, “Senioritis” still yields serious consequences for a small portion of students whose life circumstances may compound in a perfect storm of depression, apathy and burnout.

In a time when a mental health crisis is inflicting our youth, a decline in motivation and academic performance is something we should all take seriously. Especially given that many of us will apply to graduate schools, we should stay vigilant about our academics. Whether you’re wide-eyed and optimistic about a future beyond college, or a hardened senior, dreary at the thought of one more winter in Ithaca, you mustn’t underestimate when and how you can be affected by senioritis.

Columns

SENZON | Developing a Relationship of Trust with Yourself

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Warmth: The feeling all Cornellians long anticipate after the dreadfully cold and dull winters of Ithaca. Arguably, the sensation of warmth is the most rewarding of all. A haze of happiness and stress-freeness consumes me the moment the weather becomes warm once again — it’s like all of my problems from the winter melt away. 

It can become unbelievably hard to get any work done in the warmth when it feels like life is finally being unpaused. The warm weather, I can assure you, does not help with my reliance on coffee, either. The intense urge to find the nearest eatery on campus and buy an iced coffee on a warm day in Ithaca is the strongest temptation to resist, a close second being the impulse to grab a picnic blanket and sunbathe with friends on the slope. In times like these when it can be twice as hard to find productivity and get shit done, we have to hold ourselves accountable.

Columns

WEIRENS | Procrastination Station: How to Do Nothing at Cornell

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There are endless ways to spend your time, especially at a university like Cornell. Parents, professors, counselors and veteran students alike crow about the importance of “good time management,” but what does that even mean? Where do you begin to describe it? How do you apply this vague concept of “good time management” to your life?

In honor of the impending Accepted Students Weekend (aka Cornell Days), I’d like to extend this article as a time management resource for prospective students to peruse. These are some strategies for endlessly whittling away your time at Cornell, all while maximizing stress and minimizing your sanity. 

For starters, a good mindset to get into is the “I’ll save it for the weekend” strategy. This way, you’ll be bulldozed with the most work during the time of week when you have the most fun, interesting and tempting distractions to contend with. Better yet is the “I’ll save it for fall/spring/February break” strategy, when you’ll likely be with your family or traveling. Unlock your inner finance bro by frantically typing into a computer at the airport gate to complete last-minute assignments.

Columns

POGGI | The Case Against Being Low-Maintenance

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I’ve never been a particularly organized person. I was never one to make my bed each morning or color-code assignments in a planner. I once prided myself on this disorganization, seeing those who opted for neatness as trivial or overly obsessed with aesthetics. In my mind, prettiness was a barrier to efficiency — a trivial and unnecessary focus in the grand scheme of “getting it done.”

As I’ve aged though, I’ve learned to appreciate the extra step of aesthetic attention. Whether it be dotting on concealer before class or staying consistent with note formatting, I’ve learned that neatness has a previously unappreciated benefit — it affirms standards I hold for myself, even if it serves no greater purpose.

Columns

BARAN | The Artificial Imperative

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Instead, what matters is that we work productively towards meaningful goals which we set. And therein lies the beauty of this theory: there is no need to compare our goals to those of anyone else’s. The static benchmark of the survival imperative has disappeared. The benchmarks for our individual goals are completely context-dependent.

Columns

DO | The Myth of Productivity

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and saps you of your potent self-restraint. And when you lie feeble on the ground, conquered by your own fleshly impulses, I will probably be right next to you, in the exact same situation.