Celina Scott- Buechler
College Scholar
Tucson, AZ
What is your main extracurricular activity--why is it important to you?
Beside being a member of Telluride House, I have found fulfillment organizing around issues of environmental justice on- and off-campus. I co-founded a group that facilitates environmental solution-building between youth, called the Millennial Voices Project. Working on building its network to include youth from around the world continues to be challenging given language barriers, differential access to technology, etc. Bridging these divides will be necessary if we hope to achieve global solutions, and is especially important for the generation inheriting these mammoth environmental problems.
What Cornell memory do you treasure the most?
I spent last spring immersed in field-based learning as a participant in Cornell's CORALS program. Led by Dr. Drew Harvell and Dr. Charles Greene, CORALS takes students to Hawaii and a small island off the coast of Washington state to learn principles of marine and climate science, and apply their learning to research projects. Not only did I feel empowered by the hands-on learning structure, but also deeply connected to the small cohort of students and faculty. These friends and colleagues remain some of my closest confidantes — personally and professionally.
What do you value about your liberal arts education?
I've never been able to sit still — physically or intellectually. Feeling empowered to pull together diverse interests in dynamic ways has meant a lot to me, and hopefully makes me better able to solve complex, interdisciplinary problems.
If you were to offer advice to an incoming first year student, what would you say?
Take breaks! Take breaks between classes, between assignments, between workweeks and especially if and when you need breaks between semesters. Attending to your personal and social wellbeing is perhaps one of the most important habits to develop in college.
