'There is always more than one side to a story'

Maggie Zhang Grobowski

China & Asia-Pacific Studies and Government
Shanghai, China

What is your main extracurricular activity and why is it important to you?

I am a member of a cooperative, and my responsibilities involve cooking for 20 people once a week. While reflecting on self-sustenance and our place on this planet, the co-op experience gave me a residential experience like no other in allowing me to meet friends from majors I don’t usually cross paths with in classes and extracurricular activities.  

What Cornell memory do you treasure the most?

There is not one single memory I treasure the most, but perhaps a recollection of snap-shots: sunbathing before finals on the Arts Quad; full-moon salamandering with friends at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Course; meteor shower gazing at Jessup Field; hopping on a last-minute ride to Syracuse to attend a symposium on Anti-Asian Violences; celebrating at the Dairy Bar after qualifying as finalists at the New York Business Plan Competition; late-night laughs while cooking and studying with friends in the small greenhouse sitting on the corner of Dearborn Place.  

What have you accomplished as a Cornell student that you are most proud of?

I am most proud of becoming a better writer, speaker and thinker. This year, apart from earning acceptance to cutting-edge graduate programs at institutions like Oxford and University of Chicago, I became the first Cornell undergrad to be selected as a Yenching Scholar at Peking University.  

How have your beliefs or perspectives changed since you first arrived at Cornell? What have you discovered about yourself?

There is always more than one side to a story, as stories are always multi-dimensional. Under each assumption lies different experiences and histories. And behind different experiences is an imbalance of power.  

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 2022.