The Cornell Challenge

I've been working hard and eating well. The food at Cornell is pretty great. Once you get to a college campus, there's just so much variety; the dining halls are giant international buffets. I just wish I had more time to work out after sitting in class for nine hours a day.

When I’m not enjoying the food or feeling restless to go for a run, I’m definitely studying or catching some Z’s. Yes, we were warned that this was going to be the most intense course on campus, but there are some students, especially those who are part of the family business, who make it seem like it should come natural. I want their brains.

In the meantime, I will be taking some thorough notes (the Cornell Notes style we learned in school will come in handy on its birthplace campus) and attempting to think up intelligent questions so I don’t make a fool out of myself in class.

After a fair amount of reading assignments on it, we were formally introduced today to CHESS, our hotel simulation which will be running individually in the lab over the course of two weeks. I am anxious yet simultaneously cautious to test it out and experiment. It seems like a really interesting piece of software, and there’s a lot of decision-making and business strategizing involved. I never considered myself business-minded at all, but I’m willing to learn from mistakes.

Another thing I’m concerned about is how I’m going to manage my priorities. Getting in shape and maintaining it before the fall sports season is really important to me, and it’s a responsibility I take seriously. Maybe it’s not my responsibility as an ILC or summer college student, but I owe it to my teammates at home and to my own well-being.

When class runs until 9 PM, the 4-7 PM break we have seems inconsequential once the one-hour round trip from Statler Hall to the dorms and back, plus time for dinner, studying, reviewing notes, or napping is considered. There are group presentations, research projects, readings, business plans, and reviews to worry about.

I understand that school comes first, but I also worry about being healthy. Do I want to get up at 5 AM for that much-needed, therapeutic morning run, or should I rest up for the whole day of class ahead? Would it be worth it to chuck $65 on a gym pass I might never find the time to use? Or maybe I might find a balance by cutting dinner and studying time short to go for a quick afternoon jog? Learning to make my decisions, moreover to effectively and efficiently utilize my time will be the ultimate Cornell challenge. I hope you’re all rooting for me.