“Def identifying with: 1) word counting 2) hating everything i write 3) working at random speeds 4) being inconveniently tired 5) exploring the fridge to procrastinate 6) “in just two days”" – Syd.

I wholeheartedly agreed with the speech; yet the ironic thing is, I stopped reading it halfway to share the link on Twitter and Tumblr and “like” the friend’s post that led me to it. It’s a behavior I’ve noticed when I try to do anything productive online. I start the work night by opening a PDF about the economics of regulatory agencies, and half an hour later I’m browsing someone’s Facebook pool party album from July 2007 and there are four other windows open with Twitter, some half written email draft, and a random video. The motion of “Ctrl + Tab + fa… + Down Arrow + Enter” no longer requires any thought but instead is a reflex on my fingers. I don’t know if this happens to anyone else, but when I’m trying to crank out essays, every time there is a pause or blank spot in my mind, I almost automatically click another tab to go to some distractions like MSN or GChat.

Try catch yourself sometimes. It’s like we’re afraid of deep thoughts, yet it’s this very lack of activities in our brain that leads to new ideas being born. Multi-tasking is an illusion.

We talk a lot about “critical thinking” in secondary and higher education. Yes, college classes are challenging and usually require us to go beyond merely summarizing and regurgitating the facts. However, with some basic tools and a dose of common sense, it’s not that hard to cruise by in college, in the U.S. anyway (I know Cornell engineers would beg to differ but bear with me here). The academic system at Oxford is an entirely different story. For those not familiar with the tutorial system (also known as a “tute”), it basically involves meeting one-on-one with your tutor once a week or biweekly for an hour to discuss readings, problem sets, or the paper you supposedly spent a whole week researching and writing. Only a few people have lectures to go to while the rest of us have no classes at all. Our days are supposed to be immersed in books, self-learning, and deep reflections.

This is what my week actually looks like.

Instead of doing the  sacred academic rituals scholars before us have practiced for centuries, our generation mastered the art of procrastination and manages to “enjoy life” more (which incidentally involves drinking cheap liquer dancing like an madperson in close quarters in a sweaty nightclub til 2am) while cranking out a largely sensible essay at 9 a.m. the morning it’s due.

Um, maybe that’s just certain people…

My friend Phil, who’s another visiting student here, wrote an interesting entry about life structure at Oxford. Oxford is challenging in the sense that it requires our own impetus, discipline, and resolve to make learning happen. From now on I want to make a conscious effort to embrace academia and solitude in learning. To have a tutor’s brain to pick for an hour a week is a precious opportunity that ought not to be wasted. It also doesn’t hurt that my next paper for my tutorial is on international institutions and regulations of wine! Gotta run and do wine sampling for research, be right back.

(Panelist skyping in to a panel from DC)

Throughout the week, we heard from Hoover Institute fellows, Stanford professors, the Beijing bureau chief of The Washington Post, an official from the Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a former director of the World Bank, and a former Secretary of State under President Reagan, just to name a few. My greatest take-away from all of this is the surprising amount of humanity that is involved in international relations and foreign affairs. In Government classes, we learn about the realpolitk nationalism that plague the relations between China and the US. Our professors tell us that the Sino-US relation is shadowed by distrust stemming from sovereignty, human rights, security, and trade issues. FACES literally put a face to this entire discussion. Former Secretary of State George Schultz chuckled as he recounted how much fun he found former PRC President Jiang Zemin to be, and how much he appreciated Deng Xiaoping’s blunt, and straight-forward personality. Sure, Schultz spoke at lengths about the future of US and China in a bipolar system of world power, but what was most memorable to me was the thought, heart, and toil that these statesmen put into fostering the relationships of two countries.

Punctuating the provocative discussions of tri-party policy development in regards to Taiwan, panels about regional stability in South Asia, and seminar talks about gender roles in China and the U.S., the delegates…

Traipsed the Stanford campus making funky short films and learned the meaning of “chillin”.

Roamed around San Fran like perfect tourists.

Concocted elaborated three-course meals with a limited number of ingredients for the execs to “enjoy”.

Engaged in crisis simulations playing national leaders.

Shopped for Stanford gear

(Stanford’s mascot is a tree)

And learned how to share a small bed with a bedmate in the guest house at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.

In between panels and parties, we found ourselves becoming fast friends. The delegates are Fullbright scholars, JD/MBA candidates, PHD students, entrepreneurs, government interns, non-profit founders, aspiring i-bankers/artists/diplomats/consultants/professors, multi-lingual exchange students, and much, much more. They hail from all corners of the world. Some switch between English and Chinese with a confident ease  that I admire. Some have been to more places than I will probably go my whole life. And how can we forget the executives at Stanford who organized this? Kudos guys!

Part II of the conference will convene in Hangzhou in November this year. See you in a flash!

This is the email everyone in the ILR school received this morning.

Dear Students,

It is with great sadness that I write to tell you that Professor Clete Daniel died suddenly at his home in Ithaca yesterday.  Information is still being gathered and will be shared with the ILR community once arrangements have been made by his family.

This sudden loss is a shock to us all.  We know that many students have been touched by Professor Daniel through his courses as well as the credit internship program.  Counselors in the Office of Student Services are available for support.  Please reach out for support within ILR and campus wide (CAPS in Gannett, Let’s Talk sites across campus and EARS Peer Counselors) and to offer support to one another as we deal with this terrible loss that comes during a year of many losses.

Sadly,
Laura Lewis
Director of Student Services

I had Professor Daniel for ILRCB2010 – Labor History last semester and wrote a blog entry about him in November. From talking to other students and faculty today, it is obvious that so many people loved his great sense of humor and the warm personality he exuded. I remember being really intimidated by professor’s office hour last semester, but the first time I visited him, I felt so incredibly welcomed (even though I had little love for the CB2010 class itself).

Today, emotions ran high in ILR as some professors observed a minute of silence while others, choked with tears, excused themselves from the classroom momentarily.

I have a habit of writing down interesting quotes from class, and I have an especially interesting array of gems from Professor Daniel:

“You’re paying my very handsome salary to be here.”

“I raise bullshit to a high art!”

“I talk a lot of people out of going to law school. In fact, every time I do that I put it on my tax return as a charitable contribution.”

On the nickname ‘D-minus Daniel’, “That’s a hurtful slander! It used to be D-plus Daniel!”

There is a community support meeting tomorrow, Tuesday, April 19 in Ives 217 from 4:00 – 5:00pm. Professor Daniel, you will be sorely missed and it was a privilege being in your class.

This year, I waited after the New Year and New Decade euphoria to settle down a bit, hoping the overly-optimistic and wishful thinking would be out of my system before I sit down and make resolutions that are actually feasible. So here they are, somewhat anticlimatically presented.

Write New Year Resolutions – YES! DONE! (Kidding…)

Think before I speak – to avoid embarrassment, regret, hysteria, and perceived stupidity on my part.

Do something terrifying – gorge-jumping or dancing in front a large crowd of people maybe?

Hit the big FOUR-OH, not agewise mind you, but grade-wise.

Learn to cook beyond boiling water.

Get my driver’s license, because my friends currently view my inability to drive as practically a disability.

Blog more often! And write for a publication.

When it comes to extra-curriculars, DEPTH, not BREADTH.

Take every opportunity to travel.

Sleep before 12:30 and get up early to preview lectures – I have a feeling this will be the toughest one.

Of course, there’s the “internship/career/graduate school/fitness plan/eat healthier” staple that come with every resolution list which I will bypass here.

QOTW: What are your New Year Resolutions? And how many have you broken already?

There is a point to this, I promise. My professor, Dr. Cletus “D-Minus” Daniel, is the epitome of an old-school, grey-haired, tweed-jacket wearing, all-knowing academic. His dress sense – full suit and tie every lecture – is impeccable. There is in fact an entire Facebook group called “We Love Clete” dedicated to him, in which one student wrote,

“Clete is, by far, the best dressed professer [sic] in all of Cornell, if not the world. I was talking to him about a credit internship and all the while I was thinking, “Damn dude! Your tie compliments your suit compliments your jacket so well! How do you do it?”

He is also a known hard grader – hence the “D-minus Daniel” nickname – and assigns thousands of pages of readings (a portion of which I’ve done to date). Another student so poignantly wrote

“Don’t let the Winnie-the-Pooh-like voice lull you into a false sense of security; do the reading or your ****ed.”

One thing I find incredibly amusing about this labor history class is the random, unexpected connections to ILR/Cornell. Once, Prof. Daniel started talking about Myron Taylor, an influential labor figure, and sensing all the raise eyebrows in the class, added on as a footnote, “yes the same guy our Myron Taylor Hall down the street is named after. He donated a lot of money”. Or in another class, an overview of a feisty union organizer ended with, “and after her organizational work with the Teamster Local, she came to the ILR school and taught for x years”. The class usually goes, “whoa”, and then revel at just how close history hits home.

Just now, I was taking notes for my term paper from an assigned book*. Out of the blue, the author QUOTES MY PROFESSOR IN THE BOOK. *facepalm* the world of labor is a small and inter-connected one. At least now I know I’m using the right book. If only I had more time to do the paper that was assigned at the beginning of the term.

* American Workers, American Unions by Robert Zieger & Gilbert Gall. READ IT if you’re in this class, it’s going to help you on your final.

Trip Here – My parents insisted that I fly all the way as they were probably under the illusion that if they let me out of the airports, I would have 1) ended up in some other continent 2) blown my tuition money in Vegas 3) eloped.

3 flights, 4 airports, and 12 hours later, I finally got here in one piece. Note to self: never get on a plane that’s smaller than the average public bus again.

Pre-Orientation - Half a week of university-sponsored fun with international students, what’s not to love? I may have been too eager about Poker Night. If you’re an international student coming to Cornell, I strongly suggest attending Prepare. The participants are so diverse and the volunteers are extremely friendly.

Campus - Huge, beautiful, fusion of old and modern and some architectural pizazz.

Housing - I’m in a double in a suite with four awesome girls, living in the super-modern West Campus. The room is quite large and we have our own bathroom. Our house is also one of the newest buildings on campus.

Dining - The food is… good so far. I’ve never ate at dining halls before and have been warned many times, but wow, I’m impressed.

Finances - Opened a checking and savings account with M&T, currently running a bit low on cash after paying off bursar bills.

Classes - It ranges from fascinating to let’s-count-how-many-people-are-asleep-right-now Sophomore year is moving along at a slow pace so far.

Extra-Curriculars – I’m definitely still going on momentum post-UBC. There are a few really great groups that I’m involved with right now in the fields of consulting, student government, business magazines etc. More on that later.

Work - I found a job! Love it!