When I finally realized how I wanted to spend my career, I had already been sending out applications for two months. I sat in front of my laptop and detailed my strategy to the Cornell professor on the other end.
And as we spoke, I saw for the first time that I’d drawn a winding line with switchbacks and hairpin curves that led from my current post-undergrad life to the profession I had always wanted.
But I was taken aback when the professor responded quickly, with the directness of someone who’d had this conversation before. “If you want to be a writer,” she said, “you should try to be a writer.”
I left the conversation with tips and ideas for how to write professionally. More importantly, I came away with a renewed clarity about my goals.
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Conceptual Image Lab
Artist’s concept of NASA’s Pandora mission, which will help scientists untangle the signals from exoplanets’ atmospheres – worlds beyond our solar system – and their stars.
Simon Wheeler, Cornell University
Cornell Provost Kavita Bala speaking with Kalaniyot Sabbatical Scholar Naomi Havron at the Kalaniyot reception Oct. 19. In the background, Kalaniyot Fellow Eden Eran Nagar speaks with Fellow Shachar Yerushalmi.