How I got bamboozled into applying to Cornell University
Welcome to "Wellbeing Grant" - Part II
Originally published on January 29th, 2025
The Soundtrack to this post is “Wind Parade”, by Donald Byrd
My mom’s first cousin bamboozled me into applying to Cornell University. I think I had a low 80’s average in high school. Maybe high 70’s? C+/B-? He saw something in me and offered to help me with my college application. He sent away for Cornell’s application and had me fill it out. Cornell was his alma mater, so I thought we were just using it as an “example” of a college application. He told me college visits were part of the process, so he arranged for me to go up to see the school.
When I arrived on campus for my visit, it was cold and snowing hard. The door to the building where I was scheduled to meet my weekend host was locked. I saw people going in and out of the building across the street, so I went there to get warm. When I entered the building, a student asked me if he could help me find my way. I told him I was visiting Cornell because a relative told me to. He asked what I wanted to study and I responded that I wasn’t sure but that I was interested in real estate. He replied, “well this is the hotel school... hotels are a type of real estate.” (Cornell’s Hotel School is one of its seven undergraduate colleges) He then pointed to an office window off the atrium, where we stood. The office belonged to the Director of Student Services for the Hotel School and he suggested I visit her. I ultimately graduated from Cornell’s Hotel School and spent a highly-rewarding, nearly two-decade long career as a hotel executive.
(Wholistic wellbeing post #3)
One of the reasons I am so passionate about wellbeing is because I’m amazed by the transformation process and the concept of actualization. As we live and grow, our baselines change. When I was in high school, my academic baseline was moving toward mediocrity. When I started at Cornell, I happened to be in the midst of a physical health crisis, due to a somewhat obscure gastroenterological disease. I landed on academic probation at Cornell and was almost “sent home.” The faculty was patient with me, thanks-in-large-part to the Director of Student Services. I moved from academic mediocrity toward failure, then crisis at which point I began to find my way and move toward academic success. By the time I graduated from Cornell, my academic baseline was “focused engagement,” (and the academic success that follows), which I brought into the beginning of my professional career. While my career thrived, the family that my wife and I had started experienced some “young family struggles” and after some of our own crises, we found a new familial baseline which has grown into a thriving family culture. Such is life. Struggles, Bumbles, Crises, Pleas for help, Assistance, Grace, Successes, Victories. I’ve gone through this cycle in many areas of life and I presume many of you have as well. In this process, we pick up wisdom, which is what wellbeing grant is all about.
A reminder of what we’ve covered….
“Wellbeing Grant” is a celebration, library and outlet for my explorations on topics of wellbeing. In addition to “overall wellbeing,” I am focused on “spiritual wellbeing,” “physical wellbeing,” “financial wellbeing,” and “the wellbeing of the mind.”
I began publishing “Wellbeing Grant” in December 2024 and have touched on each of these “areas” of wellbeing. The posts I have published through today, which pertain to these areas are below. But first, as a reminder of what this is all about, feel free to read the original “launch” of Wellbeing Grant:
https://www.fullervine.com/wellbeinggrant/welcome-to-wellbeing-grant
Here’s the first post on wellbeing of the mind:
https://www.fullervine.com/wellbeinggrant/developing-a-writing-practice
And the first post on physical wellbeing:
https://www.fullervine.com/wellbeinggrant/a-celebration-of-rest
And the first post on financial wellbeing!
https://www.fullervine.com/wellbeinggrant/how-i-got-this-way
And finally, the first post on spiritual wellbeing:
https://www.fullervine.com/wellbeinggrant/music-therapy
Thank you for reading. Be well!
Wellbeing Grant
