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2005 will always be the year that I graduated from college. However, throughout life, we will continue to graduate from different experiences — schools, jobs and relationships. This year, 2007, I graduate from both my first post college job and this column. Like all graduations, this one is bittersweet. Looking back, I remember the incredible experiences that I will miss. Yet, gazing forward, I am excited for the opportunities beyond the horizon.
In September 2006, I began this column to help the next generation of young alumni by offering insight into life after graduation. With the Daily Sun as my forum, current Cornell students could walk not only in my shoes, but also in those of other graduates. I also sought to catalogue the young alumni experience; not that it can be generalized, but I cast my net widely to write about the myriad career paths, homes and transitions we experience.
While this column has focused on these recent graduates, as I wrote this graduating piece I could not help but wonder how my one year out experience compared to alumni from the 1940s versus today. Within the context of the experiences chronicled throughout this column, I discovered that with a few exceptions, the alumni from Classes before us shared strikingly similar experiences their first years out.
Admittedly, I recognize that I have not touched upon everyone's one year out. Specifically, one that I missed, an experience shared throughout the years, struck me as I stood in the Atlanta airport recently. A thunderous applause erupted as the room of travelers stood to clap. Curious as to the source of this laudatory ovation, I looked up to see a procession of U.S. Marines marching into the room. Drawn by what felt like a magnetic force, my hands clapped in awe. I bit my lip to hold back tears, for at that moment, the soldiers were no longer strangers, but faces resembling my own; they too were only one or two years out or younger. Compared to my experience working in New York, their time was spent at war. While they might not have been Cornellians, their similarity in age evoked the realization that there are those amongst us who stand bravely in their shoes.
Likewise, previous generations of graduates have gone off to war. In his first year out, my employer, Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Trustees Harold Tanner ’52, joined the Navy during the Korean War. Later, with a career in investment banking, he carved out time for Cornell and nonprofit organizations. “Graduates of Cornell have an unusual opportunity to capitalize on their education to have a successful career. They also should make time to put back into the system,” he said, encouraging young alumni to act sooner rather later to pursue clubs after college.
Yet, there remains no comprehensive Orientation after Cornell to introduce alumni to these opportunities. We must create our own, similar to what alumni before us have done. “It is amazing now to look back on how different my life has become than what I thought (and planned) when I was 21,” said astronaut Ed Lu ’84. While we may prepare for one direction, the unexpected route may be most rewarding.
Despite all the planning for summer in winter, established alumni have also graduated without jobs (and turned out more than fine)! When creator of the Myriad Restaurant group Drew Nieporent ’77 graduated, he did not receive a formal employment offer so he worked on a world-class cruise ship. Adjusting to not being a student, Nieporent said, “There was the burden of actualizing my goal which was ultimately to open my own restaurant — that did not take place until eight years later.” Keeping dreams alive and creating a plan to accomplish them enables all of us to achieve goals which we had dreamt of doing when we grew up . In order to succeed, “You might as well enjoy what you’re doing,” advised Kraft Foods CEO Irene Rosenfeld ’75 Ph.D. ’80.
After school, these alumni were ready for the workforce. “I wanted to have an opportunity to begin to apply what I had learned … maintain that desire to never stop learning,” Chairman of the Board of Trustees Peter Meinig ’61 emphasized. As young alumni, we may not be as eager to start work, but we seek to build upon our knowledge.
When graduating college, alumni from the 1940s through today experienced a transition from baggy jeans to tailored suits. They also said goodbye to student standard time. “It was the return to ‘structure’ in my life,” said Trustee Andrew Tisch ’71. “Deadlines were measured in days, not semesters.” Reporter Kate Snow ’91 agreed. “The hardest part was adjusting to a fixed schedule and not having total control over my time,” she said.
Roses remain red and violets are still blue (well, sort of) when it comes to love in college. Dr. Joyce Brothers ’47 met her husband at Cornell where they went on dates (which doesn’t often happen in college today) and honeymooned in the gorges. A topic alumnae hopefully do not encounter as frequently today is the discrimination that Brothers experienced during her doctoral studies. She was told that as a woman, she wouldn’t succeed. She advised, “The person interested in success has to learn to view failure as a healthy, inevitable part of the process of getting to the top.”
Despite busy lives now, commitments keep increasing with each year out. It can be difficult to maintain Cornell connections, although Facebook helps. But when established alumni return for reunions, their lives rewind and fast-forward just as recent alumni experienced at homecoming. “The memories of your experiences will fade unless you preserve them,” said Ezra Cornell ’70. “Stay involved with Cornell, stay connected and give back so that others may enjoy the University experience that you had.”
Five, 10 or 20 years out, you will graduate to roles similar to those of these distinguished alumni. Ironically, their one year out from 1947 through 1991, despite varying decades, shares a similar pattern to our own. While there is no one guide to life after Cornell, add the stamps to your passport because the world is waiting for you.
As with all graduations, I must thank those whom without their support I would not have reached this point: my mom, dad and grandma; editors, Carlos for saying yes and Olivia for editing in airports; my friends for responding to my never-ending questions. I wish I could name all of you, thanks to Becca, Colleen, Dan, Rach, Alan, Ben and Molly.
Finally, this column is dedicated to Scarlett, my loving black Labrador retriever, who until Tuesday for 14 years shared with me phases in my life with unending affection and enthusiasm. I wish she could have been there for the next few years out.
Julia Levy ’05 graduated from the College of Arts and Sciences. She currently works as a Research Assistant at Tanner & Co., Inc. She can be contacted at jml82@cornell.edu. One Year Out appeared alternate Fridays.
