A Raised Hand in the Crowd

I just knew it when I woke up. It occurred to me when I looked outside the window to stare upon the grey clouds and the swaying trees. I just had to bring my umbrella to class. Here in Ithaca, it rains whenever so it's safe to keep an umbrella with you at all times. And if the sky is signaling rain when you wake up, there is no excuse to leave your umbrella behind.

Today's lecture by Kramnick focused on Edmund Burke, one of the first conservative philosophers. Burke's ideas were rooted deeply in history rather than reason. Honestly, I thought Burke had the most eloquent writing out of all the philosophers we read so far. My oh my... his metaphors, word choice, and his rhetoric altogether was just incredible.What is rhetoric? Well, rhetoric is the style and language that adds more dimension to pieces of writing. However, my TA argued saying, "Why have fancy rhetoric when you can put things more clearly?" Well if I were to answer him, rhetoric simply adds beauty to already clear and concise ideas.

Part 1 of Mission: Accomplished

Following our lecture and discussion on Edmund Burke, it was time for the regular Monday writing workshops -- my personal favorite. However, anxiety took the place of the usual excitement. This was because our Preliminary Exam scores were being passed back. Oh my goodness! -- not the sundae this time though. TA Vijay had promised to pass back the scores at the end of class and all this did was make things worse.  As the writing workshop progressed, my anxieties built up. All I wanted was to see my test scores. I'm generally not this impatient, but when it comes to scores, I want to know them as soon as possible. And surprisingly, my name was called first. As I turned the pages slowly to unveil my scores, I could literally feel the heart beat faster and faster. But when I finally saw the glorious "A" circled on the last page, I was full of smiles. Hard work really does pay off!

After class, many classmates and I decided to go to the College Admissions Workshop held at Uris Hall. In this workshop, they handed us a packet of 14 college admissions essays all of which were from admitted students. And when the admissions officer conducting the presentation asked us what we thought about each essay, I raised my hand and told my opinions in an auditorium full of students. Taking you back to my interview process of the Ivy League Connection, one thing I promised the interview panelists was that I wouldn't be one of those students who simply sit passively in the back row. Instead, I would be the active one who represents WCCUSD with utmost pride. Today I realized that I can represent my district by simply raising my hand courageously in front of hundreds of students and making myself stand out.

This was the less populated side of the auditorium.