As I squeeze into an overcrowded NYC subway car after work, I spot a familiar name: CORNELL, marching in bold red across a sweatshirt.
A year ago, on the Hill, this sighting would have been anything but rare.
Now, however, as a graduate who is both far from Ithaca and navigating the unruly and wide world of adulthood, spotting a fellow Cornellian stirs a nostalgic flurry of memories: late-night frozen yogurt trips, sunsets on the Slope, caffeine-charged Olin nights, and frosty walks to my 9 a.m. lecture.
To me and many others, college after graduation settles into a memory. For four years, my identity, habits, goals, and routines were defined by my years as a student. On the narrow streets and brutal hills of Ithaca, community was woven into my everyday life.
No Cornellian was truly a stranger—clustered on the Hill, all students and faculty shared a certain Big Red camaraderie. From complaints about the winter weather to difficult courses, I had often found myself physically and emotionally immersed in a community.
This sense of Ithacan comfort and familiarity vanished as I entered the next chapter of my life: post-graduation, a liminal period of uncertainty, self-exploration, and reevaluation.
Without the stability of student life, my own identity and priorities are constantly being questioned and altered as I prepare for my own career. As work shifts have replaced classes, and friends once a door away moved to different cities, I’ve found myself accompanied by something new: an unshakable loneliness.
Read the full story on the Cornellians website.
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