The freedom to explore their diverse interests brought three students to the College of Arts & Sciences in the fall of 2022 as first-years. And this month they’re graduating and heading off to careers after finding their niches, both academically and in many other facets of life.
December graduates walk the stage this month, so we sat down for a talk with three A&S grads who’ve taken different pathways through Cornell, to ask about their time here, their advice for new students and their hopes and dreams.
Marian Caballo ’26 is an information science and cognitive science major who’s also a scholar in the Milstein Program in Technology and Humanity. She’ll be moving to Seattle next year to start a job at Microsoft. Wilson Kan ’26 majored in economics, government and statistics and will be working at Allegiant Airlines in Las Vegas in the new year. Reya Babu ’26 is an information science major who’s headed to New York City for a management consulting position at AlphaSights.
Why did you choose Cornell?
Babu: “I wasn’t set on one thing, so I liked the ‘any person, any study’ message of Cornell. I definitely explored the curriculum – I started as pre-med, then pre-law and then switched into the information science major.”
Caballo: “I got an email from the Milstein Program during my senior year in high school, signed by the director Austin Bunn, who’s a filmmaker, and I thought ‘that’s what I want to do.’ I want to combine storytelling and technology and I was able to come here and do all of those things and more.”
Kan: “Cornell has a lot more freedom than other schools I was looking at and forces you to explore areas of study before you pick one. I thought I would have to choose between my interests, but here I didn’t have to.”
What is your main extracurricular and why is it important to you?
Babu: “I leaned into business right away and joined a lot of clubs, ending up in leadership positions in the International Business Consulting club and in the Cornell Marketing Club. I also model every year for the Cornell Fashion Collective. I’m most happy about my undergraduate research in information science, where I’ve studied algorithmic bias in AI in the health care industry.”
Caballo: “During freshman year, I joined a project team working in aerospace, so I got to dive into that world. I also got to understand all aspects of college life as an editor on the [Cornell Daily] Sun, which led me to so many corners of campus I would never have visited. I actually found out about the new cognitive science major from interviewing the director for the Sun.”
Kan: “I moved a lot as a kid, so I was exposed to many languages and have always been interested in them. Here I became involved with the Language Resource Center as a conversation hours facilitator for Cantonese, which led me to join the Translator Interpreter Program (TIP). That’s become my primary involvement on campus. I’ve worked with community agencies, as well as campus groups like public safety, and I’ve learned so much about Ithaca and Tompkins County.”
What Cornell memory will you treasure the most?
Babu: “I joined a sorority my sophomore year and those are the people I’m closest to. Having such a good group of friends makes me love school so much. My mom never worries about me. I also worked as a student career advisor last year in A&S Career Development and it was so mind-blowing to hear during networking sessions with alumni what they’ve accomplished, to be able to sit and learn from them.”
Caballo: “My core memories will be from the unexpected communities I found myself in here. I’m Filipino so I decided that rather than continue my language from high school, I’d sign up for Tagalog to satisfy the A&S language requirement. It ended up being super fun and we had a tight-knit class who stuck with each other. And the same thing happened when I tried a new class on aerial arts and when I decided to study abroad in Prague. I had never been to a place so fundamentally different than what I was used to and it ended up being my favorite city so far.”
Kan: “This year, we celebrated 25 years of TIP with a symposium, where we brought back alumni and the founders of the program. We’re also trying to nationalize the program so other campuses can use our model. We’re all working extremely hard and it was great to celebrate.”
How have your beliefs or perspectives changed since you first arrived at Cornell?
Babu: “Coming from Wisconsin to New York, it was a big switch being around so much diversity. I was one of three students of color in my high school, so it’s so cool to be in classes and look around and see how diverse it is here. I feel so comfortable here and it was a lot easier to find my community.”
Caballo: “I think I learned how to have a listening ear and be open to hear from people who have different perspectives. As multimedia editor at the Sun, I had to hold a camera and listen to people who I sometimes disagreed with. And through a class on the ethics of tech, I learned that the way that problems in our society affect people depends so much on where they come from. It allows me to meet people where they are.”
Kan: “I’m from the D.C. suburbs, so I enjoyed being in a tight-knit community here. With TIP, I got to meet a lot of people ranging from city officials to lawyers doing pro bono work. I’m grateful for the eye-opening experience.”
What advice would you give a first-year student about to start their Cornell journey?
Babu: “Get involved with everything that you can and realize that it’s OK if you’re not on a career path right away. The clubs I’ve joined, the classes I’ve tried and the friends I’ve made have defined who I wanted to be and what I wanted to go into. Also, go to the career center.”
Caballo: “Now is your chance to try anything. Just shoot your shot because you never know. And don’t be afraid to explore all of Cornell. My first weeks here, I logged 50,000 steps with my friends because I wanted to see everything.”
Kan: “One piece of advice I was given was not to say no to anything (except for drugs ). As I get ready to graduate, it occurs to me that there are so many things I haven’t done yet. You are living a life here, not just being a student. Take advantage of this environment, of the diversity and the nature around you.”
