Mike Sosnick
Linguistics
New Canaan, CT
What is your main Cornell extracurricular activity -- why is it important to you?
I founded Electric Buffalo Records with my friend, Jacob Grossfeld 鈥17, and watching our little experiment grow into a student-run nonprofit label that supports some of Cornell鈥檚 amazing musicians has been extraordinarily rewarding. Also, being arts and entertainment editor of the Sun (and being a writer) surrounded me with an incredible group of people, let me explore my love of music writing and allowed me to undertake the daunting task of helping put out a daily newspaper while balancing school and other commitments.
What, if any, research projects did you participate in at Cornell?
I鈥檓 currently writing my senior honors thesis on linguistic construction and representation of gender and sexuality in Morrissey鈥檚 lyrics, which has allowed me to bridge my academics with music I love. Also, through my various linguistics courses, I鈥檝e researched the geographical border dividing users of the terms 鈥渟oda鈥 and 鈥減op鈥 in Western New York, assessed the deep power that microaggressions have to cause harm and subordination simply by being uttered, and documented the phonetic structure of Bengali.
If you were to offer advice to an incoming first year student, what would you say?
Say "yes" more than "no." Don鈥檛 close yourself off to experiences because you think you won鈥檛 like it or there鈥檚 too much on your plate, because you may stumble into a new passion. There are infinite interesting things happening at Cornell and in Ithaca, so there鈥檚 bound to be a passion and community for you. There will be rough patches 鈥 everyone has them 鈥 but sometimes it鈥檚 just a matter of optics. Reflect on your blessings as often as possible because it鈥檚 easy to take them for granted 鈥 you鈥檙e at an incredible university surrounded by incredible people who care for you and want to see you succeed.
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