KIM | What it Means to Be a Transfer at Cornell

It has been exactly one year since I received my official Cornell guaranteed transfer acceptance. I still remember it like it happened yesterday. It was a perfectly sunny day, and my close friend and I sat on my bed in my cramped dorm room at Case Western Reserve University eating to-go sushi rolls while watching The Office on my carefully balanced laptop. What had always seemed so distant had suddenly become shockingly close. Before I knew it, I was no longer strolling down Euclid Avenue in Cleveland.

KIM | Big Red Hunger

With the semester coming to an end with four more weeks of school left, I took a peek at how many BRBs I had left. Opening the GET app has always been a moment of tension and anticipation. BRBs, despite being just regular money labeled in special Cornell jargon, represent my special Martha’s Cafe salad money, my midday hazelnut latte money and my Chobani mango yogurt money. BRBs are special and are my resource for funding my meals on a daily basis. With the lack of dining halls accepting meal swipes, the amount of BRBs I have determines the fate of my next meals.

KIM | Your Health or That Lecture?

In the calm and quiet lecture halls and auditoriums, coughing fits exploded in 10-minute intervals. The sneezing and sniffles drowned out the professor’s voice. The unscrewing of water bottle caps echoed in my ears. Crumpled tissues overflowed the dorm trash bins. And before I knew it, I, too, was becoming a musician in this symphony.

KIM | Prioritize You

My mom and I shared a life motto whenever I had struggled with heavy burdens: “What’s more important?” She had always taught me to ask myself this question because life would never be so simple and straightforward. More than ever, I’ve realized the true purpose and meaning of this question. In a calm and seemingly mindless daydream in the buzzing quiet Kroch library in Olin, my mind was lost in a chaotic and loud frenzy. Flashes of my Google Calendar stamped a never-ending list of tasks through my head in a loop. This semester, I often find myself in this random, momentary crisis, pondering the same dilemma of what comes next.

KIM | One Dirty Plastic Bowl at a Time

I raised my speckled, squished banana out of my backpack with a mission to find the nearest compost bin. My first stop: Trillium dining hall. As soon as I entered, I saw the row of large bins and posters and spotted the small, almost unnoticeable compost sign posted to the side of where the rest of the bins were. But there was no bin. As a Trillium employee exited from the kitchen, I asked if she knew where the compost bin was.

KIM | Say Hi

I climbed into the passenger seat of my Lyft ride and was immediately welcomed by the hefty gust of the heater blasting in my face. As we were en route, I briefly commented on the bone-chilling weather. A simple, small comment gradually developed into a lighthearted conversation about the warmth and food in California and the subtle beauties of Ithaca from a local’s perspective. My driver’s face lit up as she talked about her childhood growing up in Ithaca, reflecting on the coldest winter days where she would always go sledding with her friends and family. She recommended the circular sled because it would spin in all directions, transforming a simple slide into an exhilarating twirl.

KIM | California Is Still Home

For 17 days, the surface of the Earth flipped inside out, unleashing the ghastly pits of Hell. A paradise of a state and the town of Paradise itself were demolished, engulfed in the rapacious, formidable flames. Seeing the photos and videos, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I first heard about the California wildfires. Entire houses were completely reduced to black wood chips. Cars were melted into the street like chocolate on a hot summer day.

KIM | Be Aware and Show You Care

October quickly came and went, taking with it the spirit of Halloween and stress-inducing prelims. One prelim after the next, I was constantly sucked into a whirlpool of tasks and deadlines. During this very busy time of the year, a holiday came and went, and reflecting on the past couple of weeks of the speedy month, I realized another event had slipped my mind. As I was leaving Mann Library one morning, I noticed a giant tri-fold wall in the corner near the entrance, dotted with small, hand-written notes promoting strength and speaking up. In big letters at the top, the board presented “National Domestic Violence Month” to its passing audience. We see these exhibitions, but our eyes are shrouded by events in our lives that directly affect us in the present and near future moments.

KIM | Disease-Free and Carefree

One day it’s sunny, with a moderate temperature of low-70s, welcoming bared arms and flip-flop tans. The next day, it’s storming, forcing me to dig into boxes and suitcases for winter clothes and my favorite socks. And sometimes, these opposing atmospheres collide within the same day, leaving me with unpleasantly squishy shoes, a flimsy, inverted umbrella, and a runny nose. Suffering from these unpredictable weather fluctuations, I could just feel the flu trying to pry and sneak past my immune system security unnoticed. It’s that time of year again.