First Day of Class

It was bright and early when I woke up for my first class of the course today. I had found out from Robson the night before that International Human Rights wasn’t offered in Uris Hall after all. Instead, we were supposed to be at Myron Taylor ready to work at 9:30 AM. Thanks to the personal sink, getting ready was a breeze and I arrived at the RPCC for breakfast in no time.

The line stretched out all the way from the door down two floors and out the entrance of the building, so I didn’t bother with eating at the dining hall. Instead, I bought a few granola bars at the community center and gave Robson a call because we had made plans to walk to class together. It turns out that he was so nervous about getting lost on the way to Myron Taylor; he decided to show up an hour and a half earlier than required.  I admit I found this hilarious, it sounded a lot like something I would do.

Myron Taylor Hall is a tall gray-brown gothic style building down on Central Avenue. It’s about an 18-minute walk from South Balch. The hall is home to Cornell Law School, one of the best law schools in the nation. I was ecstatic about stepping foot in the place. It’s crazy to think that distinguished, renowned individuals such as the first female President of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen have spent time learning in these facilities and so am I.

The area surrounding Beebe lake is picture
perfect.

The class hadn’t officially begun but we found the lecture hall. There was only one other person there, seated towards the front facing the chalkboard. Robson and I sat down as close to the professor and front of the room as we could. We still had a good 30 minutes to talk and make ourselves comfortable.  

In that time, I met Stephanie. She’s originally from NY and here on a scholarship as well, but it’s actually her second time at Summer College in Cornell. We expressed our love for Ithaca and then talked about the consequences of attending public schools in somewhat underdeveloped areas. As racially, nationally, and ethnically diverse as the people here are, most of them fall into the same category economically. It was nice being able to address those differences openly. I hope that we share many more conversations of the sort.

In the blink of an eye, the first day of class was over. Our professor, Elizabeth Brundige is a phenomenal human being. She’s done so much for the international community, and I look up to her already. Listening to Professor Brundige address the time she has spent at The Hague, Global Gender Justice Clinic, Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, and Constitutional Court of South Africa was more than inspiring. After all, this is the same person who was awarded the Khosla Memorial Human Dignity Prize at Yale Law School for her human rights work. These three weeks, I want to be able to learn as much as I possibly can from her, and if that requires me going to office hours regularly then so be it.

At Cornell Law School with Robson 

For the International Human Rights course, there are two TAs. Diogo and Naffa. They had the chance to introduce themselves, as did the rest of us.  On a whole, there were many accomplished students present who had their own reasons for joining the class. They all had one thing in common and that was the desire to learn more about International Human Rights and how they are applied in the real world. We avidly listened and took down notes as our instructor taught us a variety of topics including the foundations of International Law (general principle, customary law, and conventions), the distinction between positive and negative rights, and resolutions and objections. I was gaining insight and worthwhile knowledge in that period of time and as intellectually challenging as some of it was, I’m ecstatic to finally be stepping outside of my comfort zone and into the state of not knowing things but having to learn them.

I still feel awkward asking people
for pictures, so it's just me for now.

After class was over, I found Julia at Trillium and we had lunch together. It was my first time at Trillium. I usually go to RPCC, the buffet-style hall near my dormitory for food, but the quality and variety offered at Trillium was much better. My only concern ended up making sure the food was less than $10.69 (the limit).

Julia had to leave for a lab, so Robson and I decided to take a walk along Beebe Lake after Lunch. The lake was beautiful. I feel as if I am running out of ways to describe the scenery around campus because my words don’t do it any justice. We did, however, take advantage of the background and made sure to take lots of pictures for the blog.

Deven checked in briefly with Noor, Robson, and I before Dinner. 

The rest of the day, I spent in my dorm room doing homework, studying, and speaking with family members. Tomorrow is another full day and I plan on doing some more exploring because I've officially fallen in love with the campus!