The Cornell Daily Sun | Graduation Issue 2021 11
Opinion
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Independent Since 1880 138th Editorial Board MARYAM ZAFAR ’21 JOYBEER DATTA GUPTA ’21
Editor in Chief
Business Manager
JOHNATHAN STIMPSON ’21 Managing Editor
PETER BUONANNO ’21
KRYSTAL YANG ’21
Associate Editor
Advertising Manager
MEGHNA MAHARISHI ’22
JASON HUANG ’21
CHRISTINA BULKELEY ’21
NIKO NGUYEN ’22
Assistant Managing Editor
Web Editor
Sports Editor
Peter Buonanno The Wyckoff Club
Design Editor
BORIS TSANG ’21
PALLAVI KENKARE ’21
Photography Editor
Opinion Editor
CAROLINE JOHNSON ’22
SEAN O’CONNELL ’21
ALEX HALE ’21
KATHRYN STAMM ’22
News Editor
News Editor
News Editor
News Editor
ARI DUBOW ’21
ANIL OZA ’22
City Editor
Peter Buonanno is graduating from the College of Arts and Sciences. He was the Associate Editor on The Sun’s 138th Editorial Board, the Arts & Entertainment editor on The Sun’s 137th Editorial Board, an Assistant Arts & Entertainment Editor on the 136th Editorial Board and an opinion columnist on the 139th opinion board. This is the final installment of his column The Wyckoff Club.
Science Editor
EMMA ROSENBAUM ’22
EMMA PLOWE ’23
Science Editor
Farewell, Wyckoff
Arts & Entertainment Editor
BENJAMIN VELANI ’22
MAIA LEE ’21
Dining Editor
Money & Business Editor
JOHN MONKOVIC ’22
ANYI CHENG ’21
Multimedia Editor
Compet Manager
MIKE FANG ’21
CATALINA PEÑEÑORY ’22
App Editor
Assistant News Editor
OLIVIA WEINBERG ’22
MEGHANA SRIVASTAVA ’23
Assistant News Editor
Assistant News Editor
MADELINE ROSENBERG ’23
EMILY DAWSON ’21
Assistant News Editor
Assistant Sports Editor
LUKE PICHINI ’22
BEN PARKER ’22
Assistant Sports Editor
Assistant Photography Editor
HANNAH ROSENBERG ’23
Assistant Photography Editor
DANIEL MORAN ’21
Assistant Arts & Entertainment Editor
BRIAN LU ’23
MIKE FANG ’21
Assistant Arts & Entertainment Editor
App Editor
ANNABEL LI ’21
DOMINIC LAW ’22
Assistant Money & Business Editor
Assistant Dining Editor
LEI ANNE RABEJE ’22
ALICIA WANG ’21
Layout Editor
Graphics & Sketch Editor
JOHN COLIE ’23
MEI OU ’22
Blogs Editor
Production Editor
JOHN MONKOVIC ’22
AMBER KRISCH ’21
Multimedia Editor
Blogs Editor
WINNY SUN ’20
SARAH SKINNER ’21
Newsletter Editor
Senior Editor
AMANDA H. CRONIN ’21
PARIS GHAZI ’21
Senior Editor
Senior Editor
RAPHY GENDLER ’21
NICOLE ZHU ’21
Senior Editor
Senior Editor
ALEC GIUFURTA ’21
JEREMY MARKUS ’21
Senior Editor
Senior Editor
Congratulations Class of 2021 Columnists:
Peter Buonanno | The Wyckoff Club Pallavi Kenkare | Jabberwocky Paris Ghazi | La Vie En Prose Robyn Bardmesser | Impolitiburo Michaela Bettez | Bet on It
Canaan Delgado | The Land of Canaan Darren Chang | Swamp Snorkeling Kristi Lim | Riskit Kristi AJ Stella | Stellin’ It Like It Is Aminah Taariq-Sidibe | I Spy
From the 138th Associate Editor
Once More Unto the Breach, Dear Friends Well, we finally did it. After three Editorial Boards and a handful of columns, I write to you as a representative from The Sun’s graduating class of editors. It’s an honor I am humbled by. I want to begin by saying thank you from the bottom of my heart to each and every reader of The Sun. From Slope Day announcements to editorials calling for reform, you rose in support of our journalism and taught us the importance of serving as a voice for the community. It’s an obligation that we don’t take lightly. Paraphrasing former Sun editor Raphy Gendler ’21, we will all take with us the lessons we learned from telling real people’s stories day-in and day-out. Most importantly, though, you held us accountable for our mistakes and made our staff better human beings as a result. Secondly, I want to say how proud I am of the Class of 2021. In the face of immeasurable trial, Cornell’s Class of 2021 served as a case study on acting with honor and integrity for the University — even for the nation — as the proverbial 100-year-storm (well, pandemic) changed life as we know it. Lastly, I want to thank my colleagues at The Sun. You worked tirelessly to serve your community. You worked 40 hours a week for zero pay. In a time when the public was unsure of the future, you sacrificed everything and reported on a trauma which you too were enduring. Fellow editors, you inspired me and will continue to inspire me in your future endeavors. With that, I urge you once more unto the breach, dear friends. To all at Cornell, continue to lead the world into a brighter future. — P.B.
D
ear Cornell, I write to you today with tears in my eyes and taped up boxes surrounding me. The day is May 23, it’s about 4 a.m, and it has suddenly hit me that I will be leaving our haven on The Hill in one week’s time. As you might imagine, It’s a thought that’s both exciting and devastating. To begin, I can’t wait for next weekend to share a place that means so much to me with my family and friends. I cannot express my gratitude enough to Cornell and our community for sacrificing so much so that the seniors got to be recognized on their graduation day. Further, I’m thrilled to move down to Washington in a few weeks with a handful of my closest friends that I made far above Cayuga’s waters. Yet, the time that has been lost weighs heavy on my mind. I’ve all but forgotten what the insides of my favorite buildings look like. I’ll miss my daily coffee and cookie at Green Dragon. And the “what if’s” that have defined this last pandemic year are making themselves woefully apparent. But the fact of the matter is, I’ll soon process through campus. And I’ll I can do is make the most of these last seven days I get to spend atop The Hill. While I’m sure other college students feel similar about their institutions, I’d like to think there’s something different about bleeding Cornell Big Red. The connection I feel to this school goes beyond a hockey jersey. And although I can’t put it into words, I’d imagine that a lot of you reading this column feel the same way. So, rather than attempt to define what that connection means to me, I’d rather just thank those who have meant the most to me during my time here and offer a few suggestions for any students out there that might be feeling overwhelmed by the inevitable finality of their Cornell experience. First, thank you to my professors in the Department of Literatures in English. At a time when I thought I’d never find something I was passionate about, you introduced a discipline which has changed my life forever. I want to especially thank Prof. Tom Hill who taught me that, no matter how outlandish they may be, my thoughts deserved to be heard.
Thank you to Kay at the Arts and Sciences career center who always dropped everything to help prepare me for job interviews. You are a huge reason why I landed a job that I’m going to love. Thank you to the Trillium staff for always making me smile. And thank you to all student coffee workers on campus who put up with my involved orders. Thank you to Risley for leading me to a chosen family. I am honored to have a place in a long lineage of Kommittee chairs. Thank you to my fraternity for, even in the face of tragedy, carrying itself with grace. To the new members, my heart breaks for you everyday. Losing a brother is something that no person should ever have to endure at this age. Yet, you took care of our house in a time of grief and helped us live by the values that Phil embodied. Thank you to my friends and girlfriend for making everyday, even during a global pandemic, feel like paradise. I will miss The Wyckoff Club with all my heart, but I’m excited to see the great things you will all do in the world. Thank you to my family for sacrificing everything so that I could seize the opportunity to study at Cornell. The debt I owe you is not repayable. Although tuition bills certainly put a price tag on the Cornell experience, the relationships I’ve built and memories I’ve made here are invaluable. Lastly, thank you to The Cornell Sun for giving me a new lens to explore the world with. You entrusted me with the custodianship of this paper for nearly 3 years, and I’ll forever be grateful for that. Thank you to my wonderful co-editor Pallavi Kenkare ’21 for challenging me to be a better journalist every day. Further, best of luck to The Sun’s 139th Editorial Board. I have every bit of confidence that you all far exceed your predecessors. To Cornell, I leave you with one piece of advice. That feeling in your stomach that you are on borrowed time is real and shouldn’t be ignored. Even as a freshman, I remember overlooking the valley from the porch at PSB, struggling with the fact that I would one day have to leave that view behind. I wish I realized how quickly Cornell could be taken from me. Farewell, Wyckoff. Farwell.
To Cornell, I leave you with one piece of advice. That feeling in your stomach that you are on borrowed time is real and shouldn’t be ignored. I wish I realized how quickly Cornell could be taken away from me.
