Dear Future High Roader
Dear future High Road fellow,
It started like this––Sherell Farmer, my orientation leader from my freshman year at Cornell, kept going on and on about this program called the “High Road Fellowship,” which she participated in the previous summer.
Soon after, I looked up what the High Road Fellowship was. I wrote an application and submitted it. I thought it would be a cool internship option to have for the summer going into my sophomore year at Cornell.
The only “real obstacle” in the way of my committing to the High Road was that it was in Buffalo––not that I was against Buffalo, but I really just wanted to travel abroad. So, I also applied for the India Global Service Learning program through Cornell. I poured my heart into that application as well… and didn’t even get an interview back.
I could not be more thankful that I got denied from the Cornell to India program this past summer because this rejection clarified decision to choose the High Road.
I started the High Road Fellowship with a virtual pre-course, from my room back home in New York City. I met incredible Cornell professors, grassroots advocates from Buffalo, and even more passionate student peers who cared more about an equitable Buffalo and an equitable world than anything else.
One of those peers is my close friend Ivana Letayf Lazo de la Vega. Ivana and I were lucky enough to work together for Frontline Arts Buffalo (FAB)––a grassroots organization which advocates for arts based cultural organizations in Buffalo. Together, Ivana and I took on PR / media relations projects. More specifically, we redesigned FAB’s entire website, which, of course, can now be found here.
The website speaks to FAB’s guiding principles of racial, social, environmental, and economic justice and showcases the artwork of FAB’s partner organizations and local artists. It’s a platform for all frontline artists in Buffalo.
To create such a platform for the residents of Buffalo, we really needed to understand Buffalo. Although the pandemic restricted Ivana and me from literally making our way to Buffalo, through research and conversations with fellow High Roaders and Buffalanoians, we made do.
The city, I once foolishly thought of as just a means to Niagara Falls, immediately corrected me. A week in and Ivana and I were planning our road trip to Buffalo from Ithaca when this whole pandemic is over. The High Road staff and peers made us a part of Buffalo from my room in New York City and from Ivana’s room in San Diego.
The High Road popped my New York City bubble perspective. Life’s not just about trips abroad to India or to wherever. “Going” from New York City to Buffalo was really the high road, the right choice, and the best thing I’ve done at Cornell so far.
I’ll end it here––the High Road is so much more than an internship to fill your summer, it’s an immersive journey. Make the most of it.