mary

Mary Byers

Bwog staff has (for the most part) descended into summer hibernation.  To celebrate both this resting period and the Class of ’13’s impending graduation ceremonies, we will exclusively be publishing Senior Wisdoms (along with a Blue and White piece or two that we really enjoyed) for the rest of the week.  First up today: Queen of SEAS Mary Byers.

Name, Hometown, School: Mary Byers. Portland, OR. SEAS.

Claim to fame? SEAS 2013 Class President for four years running (freshman year, Carman 6 ~*~shoutout~*~ began calling me the Queen of SEAS and I’ve shamelessly never really stopped anyone since), COÖP enthusiast, and I achieved the dream of having my own spread in the Columbia Blue Guide.

Oh and for some reason GreyStone Apartments is using my face on their CUID in their colorful banner ad on the right side of Bwog, which is totally weird.  Is that a claim to fame??

Where are you going? Returning to my Pacific Northwest roots! Moving to Seattle, WA to work for Amazon.com

Three things you learned at Columbia:

  1. Everybody here is at least a little neurotic in their own special way.  People manifest it differently, and there’s something to learn from everyone.
  2. You must take risks at Columbia.  This is not the place to play it safe.
  3. Life at Columbia gets a lot easier when you check your FOMO at the door.  There are far too many things to do and too many people to see here to spend your time wondering where you could have gone or who you could have hung out with last night.  Facebook doesn’t really help with this at all, but it helps to realize that people are probably trying to make it look like they’re having more fun than you anyway.

Back in my day… The Center for Student Advising didn’t have as much glass paneling, it was a lot harder to print stuff on campus (thank you Print@CU + a special nod to D.Hu for OwlPrinters), and upperclassmen were jealous of our SEAS beanies.

Justify your existence in 30 words or fewer: I once taught a café full of people in Vietnam how to play Jenga. Everything I do is for my parents. I might let you touch my hair.

Write a CU Admirers post to anyone or anything at Columbia: To Wilma (from Wilma’s Grill): Thank you for being an absolute angel and inviting me home with you for Thanksgiving dinner my junior year when you found out that I wasn’t able to go home over break.  Thanksgiving is a time to count your blessings and I counted mine twice that year.  Your kindness and warm spirit make Columbia (not to mention John Jay) a better place, day in and day out.

And guys, I know that she only makes omelets at John Jay, but you have not lived until you’ve tried this woman’s Thanksgiving dinner.

Would you rather give up oral sex or cheese? One pairs better with wine, so I’m sticking with that.

One thing to do before graduating: Go home with a friend over break or just go visit them in their hometown.  It’s really fun and eye-opening to be able to see where they grew up/hung out and to meet their pets and parents.  If they drive, it’s always pretty trippy to have them drive you around after months of taking the subway and cabs.

Any regrets? Sharing the cup that gave me mono freshman year… that sucked. Not trying out for a dance group.  Intimidating myself out of going to office hours way too many times.  Inconsequential regrets aside, these four years have been spectacular and inspiring and I’ve met so many ridiculously amazing people.  PEACE OUT COLUMBIA! IT’S BEEN REAL!