Family First

I can’t believe that one week at Cornell has gone by so quickly. When I’m busy, I definitely don’t notice the time. The time passes me by, but one lingering thought has continued to creep into my mind: I’m homesick. 

This whole week, I’ve felt different and unnatural. I felt a bit sad. At first, I thought it was because of the workload. I’m getting less sleep and I’m thinking in ways I’ve never thought before. My responsibility in my group’s presentation is to let my class know about the finances of Choice Hotels International. Although Mark went over stocks a bit, I still have a very shallow understanding about the stock market. I’ve researched for hours and I am learning a lot about stocks. It turns out that many of the students in my class have taken Economics or another class related to business. This makes me feel unprepared compared to other peers. For future students, I encourage them to really make an effort to know what is going on in the economy. Every person should know how his or her spending habit affects the economy. I know that I will be taking Economics for senior year, but it would be more helpful if I knew more about the economy by freshman year. This way, I wouldn’t be so clueless that I don’t know what a fiscal year is. 

The constant desire to push myself to learn more can be stressful, but it’s not the reason for my uncomfortable state. I’m away from my family and I’m learning to be independent. At home, whenever I have a lot of stress from school or have a problem I can’t solve on my own, I could always turn to family for support or advice. I realize I take my family for granted. I always thought of myself as independent because I took care of my school work on my own and I never worried my parents. It turns out that I need them more than I thought. I find myself wishing they were here to give me encouragement though. Of course we call each other, but it just doesn’t feel the same.  

I’m sure many students would love to get away from home as soon as possible. I felt that way too. Now that I really think about it, a person typically spends about eighteen years living at home and being around family. Then for the next eighty to ninety years, the person is on his or her own to live in the real world. Since I will be on my own for so long, why not treasure my family as much as I can while I’m still at home? When I get home, I’ll be sure to appreciate all support, love, and care my family has provided me.  

This opportunity to be independent has shown me that I should embrace and appreciate my family more while I’m in high school. Because of the ILC, I become independent and a better person because of the insights I’m gaining slowly. I believe that while a student is still living at home, he or she should acknowledge how important family is. 

Ultimately, I think students should be better educated about business and economics in high school. Students should be required to take courses relating to the two as soon as high school begins in addition to taking Economics during senior year. Also, everyone needs to be independent when the time comes, but it doesn’t mean to ditch family as soon as possible. Thanks to the ILC for helping me see this. As I grow more independent, I realize how little I appreciate the presence of my family.