Senior's experiences leaves her treasuring the opportunities she's had

Denise Yusuff is a rural sociology major in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences from Lancaster, Calif. Nicola Kountoupes/University Photography

By Blaine P. Friedlander Jr.

As a high school senior, Denise Yusuff volunteered at her hometown hospital. One afternoon she watched as a mother and a newborn baby arrived at the neo-natal intensive care unit. The mother had been a drug abuser and the baby was weak. In the arms of the doctors and nurses, the fragile newborn died.

"I was saddened by the death of the baby and I was upset at the mother for taking drugs while she was pregnant," said Yusuff. That afternoon, she decided to devote her life to helping people get out of hopeless situations.

At Cornell, exploring possibilities for a major, Yusuff took Introduction to Rural Sociology with Szonja Szelenyi, associate professor of sociology. Yusuff loved the course and decided to major in rural sociology. Her adviser, Paul Gellert, assistant professor of rural sociology, helped her stay on track, while senior researcher Mary Kritz served as her independent study adviser.

Following Kritz's suggestion, Yusuff (whose mother is from the Dominican Republic and whose father is from Guyana) worked at the Summer Institute for Demographics at the University of Pennsylvania. On the Fourth of July in Philadelphia, she saw a variety of ethnic celebrations of the American holiday. All around her the melting pot bubbled with patriotism, as music from Africa and Latin America melded with jazz and other sounds from around the world. On the main stage, children of various ethnic backgrounds spoke about their experiences as Americans. Yusuff said the experience inspired her.

Having discovered a knack for examining demographics, she studied the migration patterns of Puerto Rican and Dominican citizens living in the greater New York City area in one of her major projects.

Further refining her life goals and wanting to help people enjoy the freedoms and opportunities she has cherished, Yusuff will enter Hamline Law School in St. Paul, Minn. this fall, and she wants to practice public service law.

Meanwhile, she has kept a hand on the world's pulse. This January, she spent two weeks in India through Cornell's International Agriculture 402 class. There she visited farmer cooperatives and saw grade schools so small that some children sat outside. "There were 100 kids in a building the size of two classrooms and the building barely had doors," she said. "It made me realize all the opportunities I've had here growing up."