Jimmy Cawley
Government
Ithaca, N.Y.
What was your favorite class and why?
My favorite class at Cornell was PMA 2800: Intro to Acting, with Professor Theo Black. Arriving at Schwartz each Monday and Wednesday morning, I could tune out the everyday stresses of college and life, as we would promptly shut off all electronics and complete our daily warmup. This class and Professor Black inspired me to discover new ways of expressing myself, exploring themes of persuasion and public speaking. The class culminated in a final performance where we could invite friends and family. The ability to take a class such as Intro to Acting to fulfill distribution requirements embodies the Arts & Sciences liberal education, as I likely would never have known about or enrolled in the class otherwise.
What Cornell memory do you treasure the most?
During orientation week of my freshman year, I decided to form an intramural soccer team. I recruited everyone I could, from peers I shared a two minute conversation with in class, to my roommate who I had only recently met. We ended up creating a team with over twenty people. Only a couple of us had ever played soccer before, but we had fun and shared laughs over dinner after each game. We ended up qualifying for the playoffs and, to our own astonishment, winning the entire tournament. Running onto the field with my new friends to celebrate the victory is a moment I will never forget, and when I felt as if I truly belonged at Cornell.
What have you accomplished as a Cornell student that you are most proud of?
For the duration of my junior year at Cornell, I studied abroad at the London School of Economics (LSE), taking coursework in government, international relations and economics. This experience was especially meaningful as I attended Cornell University after growing up my entire life in Ithaca; studying at LSE gave me an opportunity to live in a new city, while attending classes at an elite social science institution. Further, while studying at LSE, I interned at the United States Embassy in London, a hands-on experience in the same fields I studied in the classroom — diplomacy and national security. This experience would not have been possible without the Cornell Office of Global Learning and the Department of Government, who encouraged me to pursue this opportunity and ensured a smooth transfer of credits.
Who or what influenced your Cornell education the most?
My senior honors thesis, within the Department of Government, was the most formative academic experience of my time at Cornell. Despite no current plans to enter academia, this full-year research project allowed me to explore and research a topic of my choice, while building a strong working relationship with my advisor, Professor Douglas Kriner. Through this project, I paired regression analysis with interviews from school administrators to study the impact of COVID-19 relief funding on the performance of students in New York public schools, a topic of personal importance to me.
If you were to offer advice to an incoming first year student, what would you say?
Be proactive, but also put things in perspective. People, clubs, events and opportunities of all kinds are available to students at Cornell, but it is up to you to take initiative to try new things, and find what you like! College is a major milestone of independence, and it is an adjustment for everyone. My advice is to take risks, show up to events and say yes as much as possible. Taking a deep breath and putting things into perspective is equally as important. It can be easy to compare yourself to others and feel intimidated academically and socially. Add parts to each day and week that you can look forward to, and remember that everyone around you is trying to figure things out, just like you are. I've found I do best academically when I include fun and social parts to my week, and I think an important part of college is finding a balance that works for you.
Every year, our faculty nominate graduating Arts & Sciences students to be featured as part of our Extraordinary Journeys series.Read more about the Class of 2025.
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