WRITING
My published writing
My first reaction to seeing the Mona Lisa in real life was thinking that it is a very small painting. A huge crowd clustered around it, snapping pictures, taking selfies. I sought to understand the depths of that elusive Mona Lisa smile as I strained on my tippy toes, trying to see over the crowd. Despite the uncomfortable crush of jostling bodies, I stood and tried to understand and appreciate. This painting does not particularly strike me or make me feel anything, but because it is famous and because it is prized, I stood and tried to get something out of it. I gave up quickly and wrote it off as a disappointment.
Brno is the Czech Republic’s second largest city with a population around 370,000. While Brno’s size makes it feel more like a large town than a second city to an American tourist, this difference should not be a deterrent to explorers. Brno is full of life, art, and character, which make it a perfect weekend destination for anyone in the area. I had one of the nicest weekends in my time in Europe here: relaxing, but still full of interesting sites and experiences. Brno is home to great restaurants, cool art galleries, beautiful architecture, and world-class bars- seriously I had the best cocktails of my life in this little city!
Before I moved into Risley Hall, my Freshman year at Cornell, I had no idea that I had any desire to be casually topless. As a child, I ran around the house, the beach, the pool topless. When I grew up a little and being topless in public stopped being acceptable, I never questioned it. My brothers and every other male I knew could take their top off at will and I could not. It didn’t bother me, because that was just the way it was. When I came to Risley, I was exposed to a culture that questioned this social norm for the very first time. In Risley, I call women being topless normal. Outside of Risley, I call women being topless top freedom...