While many of my fellow class members are getting ready to pick up their caps and gowns and pose for graduation pictures, I am not.
That is because I have already done that — just one semester early.
And although I am writing my graduation column now, for the past five months or so, I have delved headfirst into post-graduation life. This unique timing leaves me both similarly removed from the college experience and having a minuscule taste of what awaits after. So, I figured I’d share what I think is the biggest takeaway from my stint outside of Ithaca.
Like many of my fellow graduates, I entered college focused on a defined path: Follow the syllabus, get decent enough grades and most importantly, make memories with friends. Cornell did teach me a whole lot about sticking to a routine, delivering under tight deadlines and producing quality work to reflect the effort I put into it.
Yet, when I ponder what has truly stuck from my three and a half years on the Hill, I resonate most with what one of my professors told me: “It doesn’t matter how much you learn here about physics, literature and mathematics if when you step off campus you forget that those subjects are above all else, about the people whose lives you interact with every day.”
These words hold a dual meaning. First and foremost, they drive home the importance of holding empathy. Secondary to that, though, is the importance of your sense of ownership over yourself and your own actions.
Throughout college, there is no place where this translates more than to my work at The Sun. The paper gave me my first opportunity to learn firsthand about the fallout of taking ownership. While I was previously solely beholden to the personal consequences of my decisions, I now lived in a reality where the decisions I made as a writer and editor deeply affected the people in the articles I pitched and drafted, along with our readership.
This was a truly daunting experience. From covering court cases to contentious protests, student journalism proved to be not only about writing, but also about grappling with the impact of what was left on the page.
For instance, I had the opportunity to showcase the great work some of our community members do to improve the lives of their fellow Ithacans. Even getting the opportunity to tell the stories of those who impacted my fellow students and professors when they were no longer with us, and seeing the impact it had with those dear to them reinvigorated me to keep showcasing what our community had to offer.
Of course, I was also confronted with angry emails, direct messages and even getting yelled at in person over my coverage of contentious issues on campus — all of which served as reality checks of the gravity of the work that I did for The Sun. While discouraging at times, they were also a source of feedback that allowed me to reflect on what my stories did for the community — good or bad. For better or worse, everything I, or one of my writers, wrote for the paper was up for debate once I pressed the publish button.
What I witnessed time and time again at Cornell was that my peers would shy away from a job like mine — a responsibility to make decisions that could have social consequences. If they don’t get involved, they can’t get blamed for it. However, instead of shying away from it, I firmly believe that we should lean into that gravity.
There is nothing worse than abdicating our autonomy, and not engaging is just that. Either the majority that will participate and make a decision for us, or worse, our decision-making will be outsourced to pattern recognition software.
I understand that initial reaction: Why risk getting involved or making the wrong decision? It’s not unusual to get overwhelmed and shut down because it is the option that keeps your conscience clean. But this is simply intellectually disingenuous. The truth is that even the decision that you let AI make for you will have consequences, just as if you had taken ownership of where you invested that energy.
In the few months that I have spent out of college, I have found that the same paradigm continues to apply to my life. There is no safety net of falling back on the syllabi to carry you through the slow weeks and the unmotivated mornings. With no future benchmark to look forward to, everything from now on becomes an optional box that you can choose whether to check or not. Taking care of yourself, investing your time into the activities and people you love and pursuing a new passion are all core skills I took from college, but remain just as relevant as when I was a freshman unpacking in my Jameson Hall dorm room all those years ago.
And while it is bittersweet to leave it all behind, Cornell really gifted me with wonderful years full of growth and transformation, which I will always cherish.
I was blessed to have great mentors and peers who inspired me to broaden my engagement and involvement throughout my college career and beyond. I often enlisted the help of my wonderful friends Sofia Rubinson ’24 and Julia Senzon ’26, whose help and advice always carried me through my reporting and made me not only a better writer but also a more considerate reporter and human.
In the classroom, my professors Irina Troconis, Imane Terhmina, Kathleen Long and Liliana Colanzi challenged me beyond my perceived intellectual limits. They taught me that taking ownership over my own education means taking pride in my work, even when it did not always land as I would’ve hoped. And of course, I am particularly grateful for their belief in my far-fetched ideas for research papers.
Most importantly, I would like to thank my parents. Their decisions to leave Venezuela and move to the U.S. made it possible for me to attend a university like Cornell. Los quiero muchísimo, gracias siempre por todo.
And to everyone else who has stuck to reading to the end of my column — whether we’ve crossed paths at Cornell or not — always remember to do the greatest good and have a great time while doing it.
Gabriel Muñoz is a member of the class of 2026 at the College of Arts and Sciences. He serves as city editor for the 143rd editorial board. He previously served as city editor for the 142nd Editorial Board and news editor for the 141st Editorial Board. He can be contacted at gmunoz@cornellsun.com.
