I'm a very proud graduate of Cornell University. How I got there was no surprise, and nothing special. I was in 2 choirs, played 3 sports (one of which I was a captain), participated in 2-3 stage performances each year, danced for 10 years (jazz & Irish step dancing, with a brief stint in ballet), was captain of our Model UN team (and an award winning delegate), had a 3.5 GPA, took 5 APs, was on Honor Roll all of high school, got a 1270 on my SATs, and was top 10 in my class at my small private school.
I was your typical Cornell student: above average SAT scores, GPA above a 3.5, extremely active in a variety of extracurriculars, and a natural leader.
Actually, I was below average, but that's ok.
As a freshman at Cornell I nearly failed out because I was delusional and thought I should be a Physics major. Cornell is ranked top 10 in the US for physics, and I was in classes with actually smart kids. They never went to class, turned in homework, never went to office hours, and then aced the exams. I went to every class, went to the professor's AND TA's office hours, turned in homework (it was always wrong), and bombed every test. I was failing 2 of my 4 classes before I could click my heels three times. I had to move down to "part time student" status by October and get myself in order. I quickly realized that I wasn't going to be a Physics professor like I thought, and started pondering other life paths I could take.
I dabbled here and there, thinking math - no, advertising! - no, how about marketing? - actually, I like Shakespeare.... can I major in Shakespeare? My parents sat patiently on the sidelines, trying to give me advice, but I was adamant about figuring this one out on my own - it's my life, after all!
At the end of my freshman year, my parents' words finally hit me. They had been repeating them since I got into Cornell, "Don't rush into anything. You don't have to know what you want to do right now. Just learn!" So learn I did. I learned that there was no need to pick a major until I absolutely had to and I could just take whatever I wanted. Well, that worked until I was a few months into my junior year and they threatened to "suspend" me if I didn't pick a major. So I picked the one with the least requirements and the broadest set of classes: History. I fulfilled my requirements (just barely), and graduated with a respectable GPA (it took 3 years to make up for the abismal first one...).
When I started teaching at my school, we were required to push a College Bound Culture. We were to advertise our alma maters, talk about them frequently, and every Friday we could wear our school's memorabilia in the form of a t-shirt or hoodie. It was disheartening that kids didn't know Cornell University - unfortunately they mostly knew schools because of their athletics teams and Cornell doesn't have much to brag about outside of hockey and lacrosse, which are sports that are pretty foreign to my kiddos.
Regardless, I constantly talked about my alma mater with pride and told stories of college life, what I did on campus, and how my life was changed for the better because of good ol' CU. I didn't think any of the students at my school would be interested in Cornell because
1. It's in the middle of nowhere. Cornellians joke that it's centrally isolated. Ha...
2. It's super cold the majority of the school year. Not lots of snow (occasionally we are blessed with it), just bitter, bitter cold.
3. They don't have good sports that my students are interested in. Our basketball team had a brief moment of glory in March Madness but that time has passed.
4. They don't know anyone who has gone there other than me. This means something really new and unknown which translates into scary.
5. Since I'm hard on them about their academics, they believe that I am a nerd, and thus Cornell is full of nerds. Since they themselves are not nerds, they do not want to be at a school full of nerds. (Contrary to popular belief, Cornell is not full of JUST nerds. We were named Hottest Ivy by Newsweek in 2007!)
The list goes on, these are just the 5 strongest reasons of why they wouldn't be interested. So you can imagine my shock when I was running study hall with our girls basketball team and was telling them about myself when the captain, MS, said, "You went to Cornell? You know, I'm going to go there." My heart skipped a beat. I stared at her, dumbstruck. "Really? You want to go to Cornell???" "Yeah, I mean, who wouldn't? That's a really good school isn't it?"
I lept out of my seat and tackled her. Gave her a HUMUNGOUS hug and started shouting about how I was so excited and all kinds of other things that no one could understand since my tone matched that of Alvin the Chipmunk. MS was confused by my reaction (shocker, I know) and didn't think it was that big of a deal. She's top 10 in her class, plays 3+ sports, has a decent GPA, and had won a $50,000 scholarship with the DC Achievers Scholarship Program. She's used to being on top and she didn't think it was weird for her to want to go to Cornell.
"Ms. Walker, chill out. You're acting crazy. I'm going to go to an Ivy League - that's what I want to do. You don't need to freak out."
But I did. And I continue to, because it is 7 months later and we are now starting the application process. This is a big deal. I have every reason to freak out. MS wants to go to Cornell University, and she's going to apply. I don't know if we've had any students apply to an Ivy in the past 5 years, maybe even 10? I don't know if she'll get in - but the fact that she's willing to apply and compete with those who were bred for the Ivy League gives me immense joy. She's honestly smarter than I am, and definitely has more grit and determination, so I know that if she got in, she would not only be fine, but also be a huge asset to the university. However, I know that their acceptance rate this past year was around 20%, so.... it's not impossible, just difficult.
No matter what the outcome, I'm just proud that she
1. Knows what Cornell is.
2. Knows where it is.
3. Wants to go there.
Keep your fingers crossed!
I was your typical Cornell student: above average SAT scores, GPA above a 3.5, extremely active in a variety of extracurriculars, and a natural leader.
Actually, I was below average, but that's ok.
As a freshman at Cornell I nearly failed out because I was delusional and thought I should be a Physics major. Cornell is ranked top 10 in the US for physics, and I was in classes with actually smart kids. They never went to class, turned in homework, never went to office hours, and then aced the exams. I went to every class, went to the professor's AND TA's office hours, turned in homework (it was always wrong), and bombed every test. I was failing 2 of my 4 classes before I could click my heels three times. I had to move down to "part time student" status by October and get myself in order. I quickly realized that I wasn't going to be a Physics professor like I thought, and started pondering other life paths I could take.
I dabbled here and there, thinking math - no, advertising! - no, how about marketing? - actually, I like Shakespeare.... can I major in Shakespeare? My parents sat patiently on the sidelines, trying to give me advice, but I was adamant about figuring this one out on my own - it's my life, after all!
At the end of my freshman year, my parents' words finally hit me. They had been repeating them since I got into Cornell, "Don't rush into anything. You don't have to know what you want to do right now. Just learn!" So learn I did. I learned that there was no need to pick a major until I absolutely had to and I could just take whatever I wanted. Well, that worked until I was a few months into my junior year and they threatened to "suspend" me if I didn't pick a major. So I picked the one with the least requirements and the broadest set of classes: History. I fulfilled my requirements (just barely), and graduated with a respectable GPA (it took 3 years to make up for the abismal first one...).
When I started teaching at my school, we were required to push a College Bound Culture. We were to advertise our alma maters, talk about them frequently, and every Friday we could wear our school's memorabilia in the form of a t-shirt or hoodie. It was disheartening that kids didn't know Cornell University - unfortunately they mostly knew schools because of their athletics teams and Cornell doesn't have much to brag about outside of hockey and lacrosse, which are sports that are pretty foreign to my kiddos.
Regardless, I constantly talked about my alma mater with pride and told stories of college life, what I did on campus, and how my life was changed for the better because of good ol' CU. I didn't think any of the students at my school would be interested in Cornell because
1. It's in the middle of nowhere. Cornellians joke that it's centrally isolated. Ha...
2. It's super cold the majority of the school year. Not lots of snow (occasionally we are blessed with it), just bitter, bitter cold.
3. They don't have good sports that my students are interested in. Our basketball team had a brief moment of glory in March Madness but that time has passed.
4. They don't know anyone who has gone there other than me. This means something really new and unknown which translates into scary.
5. Since I'm hard on them about their academics, they believe that I am a nerd, and thus Cornell is full of nerds. Since they themselves are not nerds, they do not want to be at a school full of nerds. (Contrary to popular belief, Cornell is not full of JUST nerds. We were named Hottest Ivy by Newsweek in 2007!)
The list goes on, these are just the 5 strongest reasons of why they wouldn't be interested. So you can imagine my shock when I was running study hall with our girls basketball team and was telling them about myself when the captain, MS, said, "You went to Cornell? You know, I'm going to go there." My heart skipped a beat. I stared at her, dumbstruck. "Really? You want to go to Cornell???" "Yeah, I mean, who wouldn't? That's a really good school isn't it?"
I lept out of my seat and tackled her. Gave her a HUMUNGOUS hug and started shouting about how I was so excited and all kinds of other things that no one could understand since my tone matched that of Alvin the Chipmunk. MS was confused by my reaction (shocker, I know) and didn't think it was that big of a deal. She's top 10 in her class, plays 3+ sports, has a decent GPA, and had won a $50,000 scholarship with the DC Achievers Scholarship Program. She's used to being on top and she didn't think it was weird for her to want to go to Cornell.
"Ms. Walker, chill out. You're acting crazy. I'm going to go to an Ivy League - that's what I want to do. You don't need to freak out."
But I did. And I continue to, because it is 7 months later and we are now starting the application process. This is a big deal. I have every reason to freak out. MS wants to go to Cornell University, and she's going to apply. I don't know if we've had any students apply to an Ivy in the past 5 years, maybe even 10? I don't know if she'll get in - but the fact that she's willing to apply and compete with those who were bred for the Ivy League gives me immense joy. She's honestly smarter than I am, and definitely has more grit and determination, so I know that if she got in, she would not only be fine, but also be a huge asset to the university. However, I know that their acceptance rate this past year was around 20%, so.... it's not impossible, just difficult.
No matter what the outcome, I'm just proud that she
1. Knows what Cornell is.
2. Knows where it is.
3. Wants to go there.
Keep your fingers crossed!
