“Si Se Puede” at Cornell University #FeelingFriday

Source: Cornell University

I’m feeling a bit nostalgic right now TTYTT, on this Friday in June. Tons of my friends from my alma mater at Cornell University are headed to “The Hill” this weekend for our reunion, and I can’t make it.

Sad. I’ve made every reunion every five years since we graduated (except for the Covid year), but I can’t make this one. Too flippin’ busy, which is also sad.

AND the Cornell University Lacrosse Team just won the NCAA Nationals for the first time since 1977! WooHoo.

It all brings me back to the very first day I stepped onto campus and walked into my dorm and stepped up to the Welcome Desk. There greeting the students was my RA (Resident Advisor) who would turn out to be only two years older than me and living on my dorm floor but seemed oh-so-wise. He became such a mentor to me at the time.

Jose.

He was from Puerto Rico and he was shouting out to all the new students coming into the dorm, and would continue to do so all semester long from that front desk on first floor, “Si Se Puede.”

Si Se Puede!

I had been taking Spanish classes for years so I knew that meant “Yes You Can,” but I didn’t really understand what he really meant in that moment.

Those first few weeks in college, and particularly at a school as tough as Cornell, are really a hard adjustment. Don’t get me wrong, I for one couldn’t wait to get to college and get on with my life and I still had a hard time.

His “Si Se Puede” words of encouragement got us all through those first few weeks because every single morning as we would walk out the front door he would shout it out to us as we walked to class.

I can see him and hear him saying that to me/us right now. “Si Se Puede!” Yes You Can!

Thank you, Jose.

So as we face the world today, each and every day, and the struggles that come our way whether by choice or by force … Si Se Puede … Yes You Can.

When I read the news feed every morning as if I am walking by that front desk … Si Se Puede.

Cornell Lacross Team, Si Se Puede. My friends at Reunion, Si Se Puede. My colleagues at work, Si Se Puede. My kids who are now going to work every day, Si Se Puede. As we all struggle with the struggles of life at home, Si Se Puede.

What’s your experience, Si Se Puede! JIM