Sunspots (https://sunspots.cornellsun.com/author/samkhatchadourian/)
Dear Mom & Dad,
How are you? Is the sun shining? Are you doing well? It’s two days into the school year and the stack of papers on my desk is already more than I can carry. Instead of tackling that parchment pile of pain, I watched a movie (don’t get mad at me) called “Beautiful Boy” about a father and his meth-addicted son, whom he loved very much.
I am here to send out a PSA to all those suffering from FOMO and all those suffering because of the people who suffer from FOMO. For those of you who do not know, FOMO stands for “Fear Of Missing Out.” A common occurrence in many friend groups, one of the most frequent cases is when someone suddenly finds out they were not invited to an event that their friends went to together, either through social media or word of mouth. Common symptoms include a sense of loneliness, betrayal, and/or insecurity, oh, and of course, passive aggression. It’s definitely not fun! Now there are two very valid sides to this argument.
Here I hand to you a figurative racket to bat back those mental health grenades. Everything is going to be fine. You are not alone. Beds exist. Prelims and minute-to-minute schedules are now, but beds are now and forever.
I have a confession: I’m an addict. The feeling I get when I succumb to the sweet, constant pull is utterly indescribable. Suddenly, I’m not a college student who has a future to worry about, but just a little bean swirling around in a whirlpool of nostalgia, simplicity, and goodness.
I’m an addict…to Disney movies.
It all started during winter break.
Disclaimer: I formally recognize economic, racial, knowledge, gender, and every other sort of privilege as ongoing problems that we should all strive to become more cognizant of, as they have and continue to create inequality that provides for unjust pain and suffering. This article is my opinion on privilege on a much smaller scale within my personal experience. I recently attended an event focused on discussing privilege and diversity at Cornell. Not only did it reinforce my knowledge of advantages that I was already aware of, but it taught me of others I hadn’t known were ravaging people’s lives. I found myself nodding, clapping, and truly loving the candid and safe atmosphere that was being created with each new voice… up to a point.
About a week ago, I watched this video:
And my goodness, did it make me think of Cornell. Anna Akana is a Youtuber, life guru, and mental health advocate who creates videos about relatable and relevant topics, as well as longer narrative films. In this particular video, she discusses how impossible it feels to be happy when it seems as if your whole world is on fire — a sentiment that many Cornellians share on a weekly basis. Here at Cornell, sometimes it feels as though there is only one viewpoint: negative. “Look at our government; what kind of world do we live in? Look at everyone getting internships and having their lives together; do I even belong?
The two movies pictured above have set off a wave of Asian and Asian-American embracement both cinematically and across the internet that has given hope to millions of Asians, myself included, who finally get to see people who look like them in roles other than the stereotypical Harvard (blegh) nerd with humorously strict parents. The media’s Asian representation movement is powerful and wonderful. Sitting in the theater for Crazy Rich Asians and hearing the song my Mom swears she played while I was still in the womb (“Tian Mi Mi” by Teresa Teng) provoked an emotional experience I hadn’t felt since my sister forced me to watch Joy Luck Club some seven-odd years ago. Just as back then, I recognized a storyline whose parallels intimately related to my own life (not in the “I’m a Singaporean billionaire kind of way,” but in the “Wow Asian families love hard, fight hard,” kind of way). As my eyes welled with tears, the moment was made more beautiful when I looked to my friends and saw their tears streaming as well.