It’s hard to predict how you’ll meet your bestie at Cornell but trust me when I say the possibilities are endless!

How We Met

Going into college, I was ecstatic to meet new people. I lived in the same small town my whole life where all 170 people in my high school grade knew each other by name. The bounty of new faces on the student-run Cornell 2026 Instagram introductions page was so alluring to me that I decided to submit a few photos and an introduction about myself to be posted. Most of my conversations resulting from that post were with other incoming engineering students (I am a chemical engineering major), until I got a message from someone majoring in - gasp - English!

Life as an Engineering Major

If you took one look at either of our Instagram pages, you’d be able to tell, ironically, that my friendship with Madeleine goes way beyond what you see online. Despite never sharing a single class in all our years at Cornell, we have shared countless dinners, study sessions, and outings together.

While most people will definitely make friends outside of their classes, whether it be through professional organizations or sports, it can be a bit rare to meet and become close with people outside of engineering as an engineering major, especially when many engineering majors either join project teams or labs (guilty!) to fill their free time.

Sometimes, it is easy to get caught up in filling your schedule with activities mainly related to your major, especially if you are on that internship grind! However, it is so important to have outlets that are simply for fun or for flexing your creative muscles. I found myself needing this urgently, especially as someone who did so many music-related extracurriculars in high school to the point where people would ask me when I was applying to Juilliard! Pretty different from engineering, right?  

Fortunately, Cornell is a place that allows for “any person” to participate in “any study” so there is a plethora of creative and recreational opportunities available to people of all majors. My only issue was, between problem sets and research projects, where would I find the time to even find out about these opportunities? This is where Madeleine came in.

What I learned

If it weren’t for Madeleine, I wouldn’t have taken Introduction to Philosophy. If it weren’t for Madeleine, I never would have heard about the many theatre troupes on campus that put on shows every semester (and promised her that we would both audition for one senior year - wish me luck!). If it weren’t for Madeleine, I wouldn’t have been aware of the strong Greek community on campus. As someone who has always had a passion for film and literature, Madeleine always recommends to me classes in the College of Arts and Sciences that I’d be interested in for my liberal studies requirements. She is even an excellent second pair of eyes for my essays!

Being friends with someone who has such a different major from mine exposes me to so many more opportunities at Cornell that go beyond just what is offered at the College of Engineering. I’ve learned that at Cornell, the possibilities of what I can do, regardless of what major I’m in, are endless.  

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