Four faces, many names

Women’s Rowing Captain and Senior Fund Co-Chair Laney McGahey shares her senior wisdom with you next! 

Name, School, Major, Hometown: Laney, Lanels, Lanith, Lentil Soup Marron McGahey (ps my real name is Elena), Columbia College, Rowing and American Studies, San Francisco, CA

Claim to fame: Sunshine Chair and lucky resident of Symposium Penthouse @Lill @G @Em (thank u guys for everything). Also captain of the Women’s Rowing Team and Co-Chair of Senior Fund!

Where are you going? Today? Definitely Ferris. Tomorrow? Also Ferris. In life? Hopefully somewhere with a dining hall because I can’t cook (but headed back to the Bae Area in the meantime so hmu if you’re headed there too!)

What are 3 things you learned at Columbia and would like to share with the Class of 2021?

I’m going to give you guys 6 (well, 7) pieces of advice because I feel really strongly about all of them:

1) Appreciate the little things and keep life in perspective. Seriously! When you get stressed, think about how lucky you are and how many wonderful things happen to you every day: you get to sleep with a roof over your head, you can take a hot shower, you can watch a beautiful sunset and sunrise, you get the luxury of learning in a classroom, someone will say hi to you, etc. This is amazing! And rare! Don’t forget all of those little things because they make the big things possible

2) Follow-through is KEY. If you tell someone you’re going to do something for them, follow through with your commitment.

3) Get involved on campus. Check out all of the clubs on campus! You can’t know what you like until you explore all of the options out there. Meet some of the wonderful people on campus that you wouldn’t get to otherwise. Never again in your life will so many smart people be in such close proximity to you.

4) Appreciate others and spread kindness. Say “thank you,” don’t take your relationships for granted, make eye contact with people you know when you pass them, and keep secrets for your friends. This will create a loving community for everyone to live in, and as they say “What goes around, comes around.”

5) Give back. You are SO lucky to be here, especially considering all of the people around the world who are our age. Think about the fact that someone had to love you a lot to help you get here – if I learned anything in American Studies, it’s that no one got here on their own. Help someone else to do the same. My personal rule of thumb is that if something inconveniences someone else much more than you then you should just do it. Support each other!

6) Say YES! Invitations to hang out with someone, even those backhanded invitations to dinner or to go out, are opportunities to get to know other people better. Accept them whenever you can! You have no idea how lovely those opportunities can be.

7) TELL SENIORS TO DONATE TO SENIOR FUND!! We’re at 401 donors at last count and need to get to 700 to secure a $100,000 (yeah you read that right) matching donation! There is no minimum donation in person pls pls pls consider! Remember that tuition only covers 60% of your education here and that the rest of your experience is funded by donations :)

“Back in my day…” Avril was queen and we had to read books and play Neopets to entertain ourselves

Justify your existence in 30 words or fewer: I’ll remember your birthday and give you free Senior Fund swag!

What was your favorite class at Columbia? Morning practice (also Roger Lehecka’s class “Equity in Higher Education”)

Would you rather give up oral sex or cheese? Currently celibate so 150% oral sex. Absence of cheese would affect my life much more negatively (although I would give up feta)

One thing to do before graduating: Tell someone here that you admire them. Also ask someone that you have a crush on out to dinner to get to know them better. People should know when they’re killing it!

Any regrets? Absolutely

Photo via Laney McGahey