Leo Glasgow
Government and China & Asia-Pacific Studies
Queens, N.Y.
What was your favorite class and why?
I had the pleasure of taking both of Professor Peter Katzenstein's courses last fall; anything he has to say about international relations or domestic politics is immeasurably interesting. Nothing in his classes is simple, and the concepts are such that you keep thinking over them even when the class is over. Katzenstein's obsession with paradigms highlights his genius: a deep understanding of the world that comes through analyzing and really understanding multiple perspectives. Professor David Silbey definitely gets a strong shoutout for his military history course at Cornell in Washington, but also for his powerful warmth that would have made the D.C. experience much more dull without him. Lastly, shoutout to Professor Xu Xin and his seminar in Beijing, which added great nuance and depth to my semester in China.
What is your main extracurricular activity and why is it important to you?
It has been an honor to join the Cornell Political Union as a senior. The ability for us to get together every week and openly express our beliefs is exactly what college should be all about. I love the fact that the union has absolutely every shade of the political spectrum, true diversity of thought. Aside from that, something instrumental to my Cornell experience has been being a tour guide on campus. Channeling public speaking and passion into a role that advocates for my institution is something I take very seriously. For many people I was the face of Cornell; it is an opportunity that I'm very grateful for.
What have you accomplished as a Cornell student that you are most proud of?
Cornell University has more than 25,000 students, and in the spring of 2025 I was one of only four Cornell students studying at Peking University in Beijing, China. That culminating experience has influenced the work that I am involved with as a student in the Humanities Scholars Program, and affected the way that I approach differences back home. In a world where it's possible to sustain yourself with the comfort of your own echo chamber on social media, it's especially important that more of us step outside of our comfort zones. I’ve taken the same energy of outside-the-box approaches in my writing for the Cornell Daily Sun, and the campus conversations I’ve encouraged at Cornell. My semester in Beijing was a chance to represent my country and my institution in a way that focused on the simple unifying factors between all people, like love and family.
How have your beliefs or perspectives changed since you first arrived at Cornell?
Although what I think now definitely mirrors what I might have believed coming into Cornell, the room for growth and flexibility is a strong Cornell addition. The cup I'm leaving with is far greater than the cup I came in with; it’s not always about the cola. A school like Cornell, that's founded on "any person, any study," forces you to be constantly confronted with differing voices. In the inevitable conversations that follow you, if you do Cornell correctly, you'll find that a difference in perspectives need not mean something negative. I’ve got the same soul, but I’ll move about the world very differently after my time here.
Every year, our faculty nominate graduating Arts & Sciences students to be featured as part of our Extraordinary Journeys series. Read more about the Class of 2026.
