Andrew Rubinshteyn, Period 8, 1/10/2022

 Andrew Rubinshteyn, Period 8, 1/10/2022

At this current point in time, what specific goal(s) do you have for yourself? Why?

Between this one and the last blog, I actually accomplished my goal for the last blog, so that one is void for me now. As silly as it may sound, my largest goals right now are to keep my grades up for the rest of the semester, as Cornell asks for mid-semester grades and that’s been the ultimate goal since the start of high school, and also to get my driver’s license. The reason I think it’ll be something of a struggle to keep up grades is because I have COVID right now, I was told that I would have to stay out of school till the 19th, and keeping up with classwork purely through powerpoints is difficult without the help of an actual class. As dumb as the second might sound, it’s important to me because since I got into Cornell, my family offered to help me get a car, and we’re already in the process of purchasing one, and I had plans to get my license as soon as I turn 18 on the 15th. However, because of the poor design behind the DMV programs, I’m unable to schedule it online or on the phone because of the 6-month waiting period after getting a permit under 18, even though I want to schedule it for when I am 18, voiding that. In addition, obviously purchasing a car is exciting, and it’s something more exciting for me than most, as cars are something I’ve been passionate about for ages and even wrote about in my personal statement and a lot of my college supplementals, so I can’t wait to start driving alone.

How do you demonstrate resilience towards achieving this goal? (or these goals?)

It’s kind of difficult to pinpoint resilience towards getting a driver’s license, because I’ve hit a complete standstill in terms of the wait to turn 18 in hopes that I’ll be able to use the website at that point. However, it’s much more definable for the first goal. My plan for that over the past few days, and in the week following, have been to turn to google regarding the subjects found in lesson plans, most specifically for chemistry and math. The other classes, such as government, are much more easy to keep up with, as there isn’t a tremendous amount of practice involved in the learning process, it’s mostly keeping up with the information. However, math and chemistry both require a lot of practice problems to properly retain the information. However, the most major worry of my classes is Electronics, as we actually need to be in school to do the recent string of assignments, as it requires software that we only have access to on the school computers, so I’m not sure what to do regarding that class specifically. 

How does the world around you affect your perception of this goal? (or these goals?)

To be honest, I would imagine a lot of people share one of the goals with me, the one being the first, even if the reasons aren’t shared. I think a lot of people are at home right now, whether for fear of their own health or the health for family members, or if they’re already sick, or if they’re forced to quarantine. That gives me some degree of confidence, in the sense that if other people can, I can too. However, the sheer number of students at home right now is a bit worrying, in the sense that it’s making me think schools are on the verge of closing again amidst the current omicron surge, which I really wouldn’t like to happen. I hated school from home, and it would be extremely upsetting if it were to come back.