Inside Summer College 2009

Ben	Geetsikha
Ian	Jason
Jeremy	Mary
Trey

Inside Summer College 2008

Ashley	Ben
Drue	Elizabeth
Josh	Kaitlin
Kristin	Laura
Maia	Paige
Ruben

Inside Summer College 2007

Andrea	Brian
Brooke	Casey
Charleen	Dave
Erica	Farah
Hayley	Koyuki
Katie	Rachelle
Tyrone

Inside Summer College 2006

Lia	Erik
Hannah	Zaid
EJ	Jordana

see also

• Slide show
• Summer College campus photo tour
• Summer College videos
• The Summer Times Student Newspaper

Andrea

My name is Andrea. I have just completed my junior year at Moorestown Friends School in Moorestown, New Jersey. I have grown up in New Jersey, and other than family vacations to the shore or trips to compete with my swim team, I have rarely spent time away from home. I am looking forward to Summer College so I can get the chance to be out on my own and feel a sense of true independence before I go off to college next year. This summer at Cornell I will be studying Architecture. I have always had a strong interest in art and have taken many studio classes throughout middle and upper school. Equally I have enjoyed the construction projects associated with the study of physics, and have explored ways that I could combine both my interests in science and design into one concentration. Therefore, I am really looking forward to experiencing the study of Architecture this summer. As the president of my class and the captain of our varsity swim team, I enjoy working with others and helping a group to accomplish their goals. Whether leading my class to victory during spirit week or anchoring our varsity swim team relay, I enjoy participating in a team environment and I hope to contribute the same enthusiasm at Cornell this summer!

Journal entries

7/1/2007
It has been a week since I have arrived at Cornell Summer College and I am so happy that I was given the chance to attend the program. I arrived on Friday and stayed at the Statler Hotel for the evening before checking in on Saturday morning. Immediately at dinner that night in the hotel I began meeting people from all over the world who were also attending Summer College. After getting a bit lost on the way to my dorm Saturday morning, I was finally introduced to the Resident Advisors on my floor and to my roommate. On Opening weekend I began exploring Cornell's beautiful campus before my first day of classes. Some friends and I walked down to the gorges and ate dinner in College town. We rode the bus to the mall and attended programs that helped us to meet so many new people. I was surprised by the extent of the diversity of the people on campus. Some have traveled from across the country and others from across the world. Now a week later I am proud to say that I have friends that live in places such as California, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

This week my Architecture courses have been fascinating and intensively challenging. We have a lecture class in the morning that discusses controversies in Architectural design, specific drawing techniques, and comparisons between physical and implied space. In our studio class that lasts for primarily the rest of the day, we are pushed to create cubic structures and think "outside of the box". I am learning that Architecture requires not only dedicated work but also a depth of understanding that is different from most artists. While trying to grasp these concepts and push our creativity each day, my fellow Architecture students and I have become so close and comfortable with each other. It is as if we have been friends for months now.

Although my first week at Cornell has been physically exhausting with early morning and late night trips to the studio, I feel that I have already grown as an individual. Living almost completely independently here I feel accomplished that I have pushed myself to meet all the requirements for my classes on my own. After meeting so many great people I feel more confident with myself and with preparing for college in the next year. I am really looking forward to the next five weeks at Summer College and all of the fun and challenging opportunities it will bring.

7/14/07
I have been at Summer College for three weeks now and I can't believe that my courses and my time here at Cornell are already half way done. This past week in our studio class, we focused on drafting drawings and representing function through our compositions. The week's projects were by far the most difficult to complete on time and required late nights of hard work. Although it was frustrating to maintain patience and focus on the same drawings for many hours, I really enjoyed watching my progress in successfully completing the assignments. Staying up late with my fellow Architecture students, we joked that at least we were losing sleep over something artistic and fun rather than a boring English paper. In the last three weeks I've learned that if you are passionate about your work, then it will be easier to invest more time and effort into it.

Last weekend my friends and I got to take a nice break from the studio to go to the '80s Themed Dance. We dressed up in whatever clothing we could combine to create the right look for the decade, and then we teased, hair-sprayed, and fluffed our hair until it was big enough to complete our looks. The dance was held on the third floor of our dining hall and I was surprised to see that almost all of the students attended.

This weekend, a whole new set of students will be arriving in our dorms for their courses that will last for the next three weeks. I am excited to meet even more new people and see what the second half of Summer College has in store for us!

7/23/07
Entering into my final two weeks of Summer College, I've decided to make a list of all the things I want to experience before I leave. The hardest part about being an Architecture student is finding time outside of the studio to do more than just sleep, eat, and maybe do laundry. There is so much to do on Cornell's beautiful campus that it would be a shame to leave without experiencing it all.

1. Climb the clock tower to see the amazing view of Cornell University and Ithaca
2. Go to the Dairy Bar to get some handmade ice cream
3. Buy an "Ithaca is Gorges" tee-shirt and other souvenirs for my family
4. Tour the plantations and all of the gardens
5. See a movie in the Cornell Cinema
6. Go to Buttermilk Falls to swim in the waterfall

I know that the likelihood of me completing all of these activities are slim as I enter into the final stretch of the course and start my final project, but I am going to try my best to make every last moment here at Cornell truly memorable.

8/9/07
A week has gone by since I left Cornell and it is hard for me to fully describe how much I miss Summer College. This time last week, I was lying in the Arts Quad with all of my friends reminiscing about the six weeks we had just completed. We had just finished our final days in the studio and our last tough critique. In our final push to the end, we'd wanted nothing more than to hand in our projects and leave the studio. But lying in the Arts Quad, hours before we all had to say goodbye, we agreed that all we wanted to do was rewind the clock and start the entire program over again. When I arrived at Summer College in June, I was excited to have the opportunity to learn about Architecture. To my surprise, I jumped into six of the most challenging and demanding weeks I have ever pushed myself to accomplish, but at the same time they were six of the most fascinating and rewarding weeks I have ever had the privilege to experience.