Letter from Rachel Stein ’18 – Cornell Class of 1973

The following is a recent letter from our 2015-16 class scholarship recipient Rachel Stein ’18:

The first word that comes to mind when I think about the past year is “adventure.”

I spent the spring semester studying abroad in southern India, with a Cornell program titled the Nilgiris Field Learning Center. In January, six Cornell students embarked on a 48-hour trip across oceans and continents, landing finally in Kotagiri, Tamil Nadu, a small but growing city in the hills of the Western Ghats. My senses were overwhelmed with unfamiliarity as I struggled to understand the reality of my surrounding—exotic and intriguing.

Landscape of the area around Kotagiri, Tamil Nadu, India. You can faintly see tea plantations on the terraced hills in the distance.

The courses were modeled around an integrated classroom, one in which Cornell students and students chosen from the surrounding area studied together. A translator was present to translate every sentence from English to Tamil or vice versa. Being in the same classroom and studying the same subjects offered a unique perspective of the cultural and physical landscape. Our Indian counterpart students provided the potential for unending knowledge about cultural traditions, traditional understandings of nature, and ways of living. Over time, the other students became our companions and also our friends.

As well, we experienced the staples of every day life, such as learning to wash clothes by hand and to know which animals to be wary of. (A word of advice: at first monkeys are cute, but they are audacious animals. I underestimated their impudence till I walked into a bedroom to a bag of oats blanketing the ground and a neighboring jar of honey close by. Lock your windows, people!).

Rachel (third from right) with other Cornell students and local Indian participants in the Nilgiris Field Program. Photo was taken at a temple called Somnathpur, located in near the city of Mysore which the group visited on a field trip.

After a spending the summer interning with the Cornell Cooperative Extension in Sullivan County, New York, I am back in Ithaca, settling into a new schedule and new pace of life, enriched by my experiences aboard and looking forward to my next adventure.

Again I extend my thanks to the Class of 1973 for being willing to make these types of life-changing opportunities available to me.

1973 Scholarship Fund

Since it was established at our 15th reunion, the Cornell Class of 1973 Scholarship has been helping Cornell undergraduates finance their education. The fund has been growing over the years through classmate donations, and currently we are able to grant a $10,000+ scholarship to a student or students needing financial aid. Generations of class officers have affirmed the Class of 1973 Scholarship as one of the most visible legacies that we can leave to Cornell. How better to leave a mark than establishing a fund that allows multiple students to afford a Cornell education?

We encourage giving to the Class of 1973 Scholarship, and many classmates have made gifts to help others afford a Cornell education. A gift may be made at any time – and many classmates “round up” their class dues to add a little bit to the scholarship fund. As of 2017, twenty students have received help from our scholarship fund. Check out some of the class letters to see their stories.

Class of 1973 Legacy

The class officers have worked to identify a class legacy that we, the members of the Class of 1973, can leave to Cornell which will make an impact on Cornell's future. We have determined that the class legacy should include: Scholarship (we have a Class of 1973 Scholarship which supports at least one student every academic year and will hopefully grow to support additional students), as described above; Mentorship (both of young class officers and graduating students to encourage their support of Cornell as alumni); and Public Service (both through supporting Cornell's initiatives and in our own communities).