I am in Love

After our University of Chicago visit I was. I couldn’t wait to make it to Ithaca and get settled into Cornell. In short I was excited to start my summer program. We left from the University to our hotel to pick up our luggage then from there to the airport. I was pretty tired from the UChicago tour, but I was still anticipating my time in Cornell. We went through security and then boarded our plane. With each mile my excitement and anticipation grew. But once we landed that all vanished.

We arrived at Newark, but our plane was delayed and when we landed we were 10 minutes late to our connecting flight to Ithaca. We told United personnel that we were going to be a little late and asked if they could hold up the plane for a little since the flight was delayed anyway. We got no response. When we got off the plane we practically ran to the plane, but alas the plane was on the other side of the terminal. After our running we were breathing heavily and I don’t know about everyone else I almost collapsed. It turned out our plane was out of the gate. Even though it wasn’t going to fly for another 30 minutes there was no way we could board it.

After that we went to customer service and Deven told us to sit down while he sorted everything out. I sat down, kind of out of it. Noor and Javaria were kind of worried and a little stressed, but I wasn’t. It wasn’t because I am a really calm person. It was because the reality of us missing our flight did not settle in yet that only happened when I told my mom and Deven had to talk to her. Then I realized that we weren’t going to Cornell that day, our weekend plans were up in the air and we were going to miss some pretty important events. I went through a range of emotions at first I was pretty stressed I was worrying about where we were sleeping, how I was going to blog because there was no Wi-Fi and then when I saw the United employees talking with Deven started blaming the entire airline and hating it with a fiery passion because they didn’t hold up the plane for literally two seconds. I had a good hour of two of feeling stressed, mad and worried, but as I started getting more and more tired I decided that this situation is pretty horrible all around and I don’t like it, but soon I will be in Cornell having the time of my life so I just need to get through it. But it wasn’t easy.

Our five star room at the airport

There is this New Jersey state law where minors can’t be in a hotel room without an adult present. That would mean Javaria, Noor, Deven and I would have to stay in the same room and that wasn’t going to happen. On top of the genders of the group it would be unethical for Deven to stay in the same room as us because he was a district employee with us on a field trip. The solution was that Deven would sleep in a random hotel room in the airport and Noor, Javaria and I would stay in a part of the airport for minors. We imagined it as a hotel room or a room with beds, but there was an adult to look after us. 

Instead it was a room that was a lounge with old couches and chairs spread randomly in the room. It was pretty miserable as the lights did not turn off, the couches were anything but comfortable, it was cold and the blankets they gave didn’t help and worst of all there a music playing in the room and it was loud. At this point I was just miserable, I started complaining a little, but I was too tired and decided that I should get my blog up even if it figuratively kills me. I didn’t like this situation, but I was determined to get through and acknowledge that this was awful, but it is just a bump in the road and soon I will be in the college of my dreams.

That night I barely got any sleep, but nothing that coffee and a good power nap can’t fix. We went to baggage claim to get our bags, but when we got there we found out that we didn’t make it to Ithaca, but our bags did with the exception of Javaria whose bags they told us were in Chicago. It was just the cherry on top of a great two days. . We made it to our gate hours early where I had my coffee (nectar of the gods) and my quick power nap.
From there we got on our plane to Syracuse and the plane was really small. I couldn’t stand up straight in it and in my row there were only two seats and the other row only had one. The plane ride was short and had no troubles, and when we got off the plane to Syracuse International Airport it was weird because it was the middle of the day and it was empty if was nearly another airport it would be packed. We had some trouble with the shuttle to Ithaca, but I wasn’t sure what it was and it was done with quickly so I paid little mind to it. I got to my room and it was bigger than I thought it was going to be, it is about average size; I thought it was going to basically be a broom closet. But it was kind of spacious with fans, decent sized beds and the university already gave us clean blankets and bed sheets so I just used those, but I still didn’t trust the pillow because I just thought of the sheer number of people who probably drooled on it so I used my own pillow.

I loved the car ride. It gave me a chance to see a part of America I never saw before and it was a particularly beautiful part of the country. There were rolling hills covered with mixed forests that would give way to open fields, meadows or pretty farms or ranches. We passed by many picturesque little towns that had cute homes and were exactly what comes to mind when I think “Small town America”. During the car ride I was sitting there with waves of relief washing over me as I realized what we went through is pretty much over and I can once again enjoy my trip. 

We went to Ithaca airport to pick up our bags and luckily enough Javaria’s bags were there which was great. We drove to Cornell, and I was in shock, I almost didn’t believe it. We checked in and luckily my dorm it right next to the community center so I had a very short commute. I went to my hall (Mary Donlon Hall) read that this was the “fun” hall because it has many activities and traditions. Compared to the other halls it’s not super impressive when it comes to the aesthetics, but it is huge. I have no complaints.

My room and roommate 

When I entered my dorm I met my roommate Adam. Before we left for our trip Don told us stories of how kids in these programs are rich and sometimes have things like their own butler so I was expecting my roommate to be Prince Harry or Rockefeller, Jr., but he was down to earth and didn’t seem to be bathing in jewels. We started talking and I was relieved that I liked him and he seemed to not hate me so it looks like we’ll have no problems. I was worried that we would hate each other or constantly bicker, but we were fine, he was very easy going.  

After that I drafted a little bit of my blog then went to get food. The dining hall was packed and there were a lot of options. I couldn’t decide so I got pizza and a salad. It wasn’t fantastic. It wasn’t horrible. It was pizza. It tasted normal and my salad was lettuce, tomatoes, carrots olives and ranch dressing and that was also a normal salad. The food was exactly what I expected. I expected it to be pretty good cafeteria food and it was.  

In the dining hall I sat down and I talked with a fellow student, his name was Chris. He was nice and we talked about our classes. He was taking History and Politics of a Modern Middle East. We talked about our classes and why we took them. He was taking his class because he wanted to be informed on the Middle East because it is a very contentious and controversial region now. I told him that I was talking my class because I love law and my passion and goal in life is to expand and protect the rights of as many people as I can through law or politics. After that the conversation was basically small talk about the weather, we talked about how pretty the campus was and things like that.
 

I went back up to my dorm to finish packing then I went to an ice cream party that was happening outside the Balch Hall. I was really surprised to see an entire swarm of people (I don’t know why I was surprised; I mean people LOVE ice cream). There was a loud rumble of people and I was a little uncomfortable because I don’t like being in a swarm of people. Then it got worse because even more people crowded around the tables to get their creamy, sweet delights. And there was also loud music playing from what I guessed was a frat house. I made sure to basically sprint to the table, get my ice cream then get out of there. I got vanilla and salted caramel.

I took my ice cream and decided to explore the campus. And it was nothing short of beautiful. The old brick buildings were large and ornate and loomed over the campus. There were clean paths through green lawns and benches that faced gorgeous views of the campus. I made it to a bridge and my breath was taken away by the gorge. The grey, sheer cliffs plunged into a rushing creek that fell over cliffs in the form of a magnificent waterfall. I was taken away by the fact that many of the people who were passing by it without looking because it dawned on me that to me this was beautiful, breath taking and new, but to them they were just walking to class. I love the idea that every day I can walk by something like that on my way to class. I wondered a little then I circled Beebe Lake. The lake was perfect. It was calm and tranquil. It was lined by wild flowers and tall forests. Before I was surrounded by loud rumbling and loud music, but in only in 5 minutes I was in tranquility, listening to the music of the birds and rushing of water.  

Afterwards my day wound down I took a map and went to our mandatory dorm meeting. It was basically everyone on the level met in the lounge and we told people our names, what class we are taking and an interesting fact about. I did exactly that. The interesting fact I shared was that I knew some sign language. Then I ran to my room to finish my blog.


So far I am falling in love with Cornell. The campus is wonderful. It is large enough so that you can easily get away from noise and is just as pretty as any state park and has trails that you could walk on if you want to clear your mind or jog in the morning. It is easy to get around. Many of the summer employees were very helpful and smart. I am falling in love with the campus, the people seem really nice and from what I can tell from my course work the classes are interesting and rigorous. I am having so much fun and can’t wait for tomorrow.