Tuesday, July 4, 2017

Liberty and Justice for All


4th of July BBQ

You might be disappointed with the contents of this blog. Not because I did anything wrong, but because I didn’t really do much at all. Today ended up being a tough day for me. I was trying to finish up the most difficult portion of our first official assignment for the International Human Rights in Theory and Practice Course. What we were trying to accomplish was drafting a submission to a UN human rights treaty body on behalf of Isaki Dezmir, a journalist detained for his political opinions in the state of Golestan. No, this wasn’t an actual case from the Golestan region in Iran. It was all made up, but still very interesting. I didn’t mind the challenge, mostly because I found it incredibly fun and engaging.


Art near the Cornell Campus on the way
to Libe Slope.
I thought to myself, this is exactly the type of work that I want to do later on in life. Interacting with others firsthand and helping them break down major obstacles in their lives appeals to me. It’s the social work that I have looked forward to since I was a little kid. Phases passed and my chosen career choices changed from teacher to doctor to who knows what, but they always seemed to revolve around me helping people out. Maybe I have a hero complex, who knows. But, I’d like to think that I don’t and that I am genuinely invested in bringing about positive change, liberty, and justice for all.

The only other exciting part about today was the fact that it was Independence day! I admit I felt a bit lonely. The RCAs had put on a barbecue on site, but barely any students showed up and they were only serving pork at first so I couldn’t enjoy the food either. I sat there with my Muskaan and Robson for a while, but the bread itself just didn’t do it for me, so I went over to the RPCC instead for my good old American hot dog.

Beebe Lake. One of these days, I'll
run around it in the morning.
Afterward, I blogged and then worked on the assignment, wrote postcards, and worked on the assignment some more. Technically, It wasn’t due till the next day, but I didn’t want to procrastinate and then run into problems. So, I waited it out in my dorm until 7:30 PM and then took a break.

The first place I visited was the Beebe Lake. I hadn’t gone since by first few days here at Cornell. It definitely didn’t look the same, because of all the rain. The view was just as beautiful, but some parts of the water had become a bit dirty. Nonetheless, sitting by the water and contemplating life and existence is my favorite cheesy thing to do. That’s exactly what I did for a while before Robson joined me to take some pictures for the blog.

We headed over to the Libe Slope after our mini photo-shoot. I almost didn’t want to include the slope in my writing, because I realized it’s been in almost every single blog that I have published. If you’ve read some others, you can probably easily guess that we watched the sunset. The reason that I chose to include this wasn’t that I’m a big fan of being repetitive, but I do think that the area has become a spot for me to connect with the friends that I have made here and I’m grateful for that.

I came back to the dorm pretty late and blogged and wrote the rest of the time. My writing skills have been getting a lot better. I don’t have to think too hard about what I’m going to say. It comes naturally and is one of the many exciting changes I have noticed in myself during my time here in Ithaca.

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