For exactly one year, I worked with a campus mentorship program, Cornell BEARS, as webmaster. It was a valuable experience – I used a modified version of the Gale-Shapely matching algorithm to match up mentees and mentors, and I was also rewarded with successful stories of mentor-mentee pairs.
I also made some improvements to the existing website, first adding some UX changes, then streamlining some content, then adding picture upload functionality, then a built-in form for matching up people. The final functionality of the form will be completed by my successor, a friend of mine. Everything is PHP, JS, HTML, and CSS.
I decided last semester to discontinue with BEARS because I believe my time and energy need to be focused elsewhere, where I can make more of an impact, or where I can be impacted. Areas I see this happening include Cornell Measureless, the Cornell Big Red Marching Band, and Cornell Computer Animation Club. I need to start identifying what is most important to me, and to stop daydreaming about joining 10 other clubs.
It’s been a long challenge of mine to fully see how I can’t experience everything I want in college – I can’t be part of a dance group, a music group, a Christian community, marching band, animation club, and acapella all at the same time and expect to thrive. I keep on crossing the threshold where the things I do for fun punish me later because there’s simply not enough time.
I plan on using the time I gain from dropping Cornell BEARS to invest myself in strong relationships with the people I care about, especially in marching band.
So long, Cornell BEARS. You’re gonna do great.
Adventures 