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1,370 days of a Cornell undergrad

Amanda Levey
 

Over the past four years, Amanda Levey '23 has taken note of moments during her time at Cornell that helped shape her personal student experience. Days away from walking into Schoellkopf as a student and leaving the stadium as a Cornell graduate, we celebrate her transformational days here in her own words, taking us from Day 1 to 1,370 on her journey.


Amanda Levey '23

It’s Day One: I am using google maps to get to my first class. I haven’t discovered the footbridge shortcut yet, which I will then take every day for the entirety of my freshmen fall, astonished that my walk to class just casually involves a waterfall.

It’s Day 51: I am once again eating at RPCC. It’s been 2 hours, and all 16 of us are still crammed around a table meant for 8. We’ll do it again tomorrow.

It’s Day 98: the great Snow Day of 2019. We’re wandering the arts quad late at night, throwing snowballs at each other and grabbing any relatively flat object we can to use as a makeshift sled.

It’s Day 200: the email said we’d go online for 2 weeks, but it was a lot longer. I spend my days facetiming my friends and playing Skribbl.

It’s Day 365: I just moved into my dorm, and my roommate is moving in 3 days later after I end my quarantine. Campus is hot, and my dorm is hotter, but my view is unmatched. I will spend a whole year watching the seasons change across Ithaca from my window in Keeton.

It’s Day 570: I am snowboarding with my friends from Cornell Ski and Snowboard Club at Greek Peak. We’re betting on who can hit the fastest speed down Iliad. Spoiler alert: it is not me.

Amanda Levey

It’s Day 621: I am sitting on the slope watching the sun set with a takeout dinner from West. I rush to finish so I can get in on the game of spikeball we’re setting up.

It’s Day 725: I have just moved into my first apartment, and I am debating where I want my posters to go. I’ve carried them from Balch to Keeton, and now off campus. I imagine I’ll still have them years after graduation.

It’s Day 835: It’s champ night for the Lady Llamas in the 5v5 Intramural Sports Basketball Tournament. I didn’t know it then, but we’d go on to be four time champs, and I’d score a buzzer beater three in my senior game.

It’s Day 934: it is St Paddy’s Day and everyone I’ve ever met is on Linden Street. I have never seen so much green. We’ll do this for every major school event, or just when the weather is nice.

It’s Day 979: I am turning 21. My friends and I went to Six Mile Creek for a wine tour. When I wake up the next day, I scroll through the 1000 photos we took and keep all of them.

It’s Day 1,096: my last first day. My first last. We take photos to send to our parents on our front porch like its Kindergarten.

Amanda Levey

It’s Day 1,111: we rented a boat on Seneca Lake, and the water is crystal clear. We take turns jumping into the water, and seeing how long we can float on our backs.

It’s Day 1,194: the Cornell vs Harvard Hockey game, and someone just tossed a three-foot-long fish on the ice. When Far Above Cayuga’s Waters plays during the second period intermission, I’ll think about how I used to look up the words freshmen year.

It’s Day 1,346: it is the last ever champ night I will work with intramurals. The job I randomly took freshmen year has become one of my favorite things about campus.

On Day 1,370: I will graduate from Cornell with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering, and I won’t get any more days here as a student. Not every day was good, but I wouldn’t trade my time at Cornell for anywhere else. Thank you to those who have been part of even one day, and especially to those that were a part of all of them. To all that aren’t graduating or haven’t even had a Day One yet, I hope Cornell brings you as many good memories as it did mine.