Max, looking excited – about baseball?

Once upon a time, Max Rettig was a sports writer for Bwog. Now, he’s a sports writer for bigger and better people (and, no, we don’t mean Spec).

Name, School, Major, Hometown: Max Rettig; GS/JTS (Joint Program); Creative Writing/Modern Jewish Studies; New Hope, PA

Claim to fame: I’ve interviewed Alex Rosenberg and Maodo Lo; David Speer; Matt Duran; Katie Meili, Natalie Coughlin and Cammile Adams; and Al Bagnoli.

Where are you going? To a baseball game

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

1) Take a class in the Creative Writing department. Even if only for a semester, the department becomes a home to you. Whether it’s a workshop or a seminar, you come out a better writer, reader and thinker. If University Writing teaches you to write academically, Creative Writing teaches you to write. Nothing in my academic experience has been more invaluable than the honest critique of my peers and professors in those classes.

2) Take advantage of the events Columbia puts on. Keep tabs on events.columbia.edu, and find ones that pique your interest. Maybe you’re undecided, and an event helps you discover your major or a research project. Maybe you’re very decided, and an event helps you open your mind to a new field. I didn’t attend nearly enough of these in my four years, but the ones I did go to were always engaging, informative and even fun. Some entail free food. You have access to wildly accomplished people at Columbia, and not just the ones who teach your classes — you never know who you’ll run into if you don’t seek out the opportunities.

3) I’ve spent a lot of time on this campus with my headphones in my ears, not really paying attention to where I was or what was happening around me. Once every so often, take your headphones out and listen to the sounds of campus and of the city. There’s a sound of New York that doesn’t exist anywhere else. You’ll clear your mind, absorb more of your surroundings, and feel better about where you are, physically and mentally. On the same token, take five minutes on a warm night and just stare out at campus and the way the lights along College Walk illuminate everything else.

4) I’m probably not the first person to tell you this, but as someone who has covered sports at Columbia — whether for Bwog, Spec or WKCR — for all four years, student-athletes here get a bad rap that is so undeserved. Yes, scandals break, and some athletes or entire teams do pretty stupid and inexcusable things. Those athletes are punished by the administration and, socially, by their peers. But to judge the entire student-athlete population based on those people or teams is unfair. The athletes I’ve spoken to in interviews have been smart, kind, considerate and extremely hard-working, often in unfavorable situations (e.g. constant travel). They deserve your respect and support (especially when they double as your RAs).

“Back in my day…” JTS had a scenic courtyard where one could enjoy the delicious “JTS burger” (for $7!) on a pleasant day. Alas, JTS is building a megafortress with a “light court” and the JTS burger is folklore to the underclassmen.

Justify your existence in 30 words or fewer: In what I feel is a uniquely Columbia experience, I pulled an all-nighter in Butler and wrote half a page.

What was your favorite class at Columbia? I really love most of the classes in the Creative Writing dept., but let me broaden my horizons and say Intro to Indian Art and Architecture with Siddhartha Shah. In one semester, we covered thousands of years of art on the Indian subcontinent that crossed cultural, religious, social and geographical boundaries. Shah challenged us not only to see art and architecture, but to think of all of its possible meanings, sources and especially its consequences. Bonus: It counts for the elusive Global Core.

Would you rather give up oral sex or cheese? Cheese is always replaceable in non-dairy forms.

One thing to do before graduating: Once, when I was a freshman, I very nearly convinced myself to walk from 120th to Battery Park, leaving at 3 am to catch the early spring sunrise. Rain deterred me then, but I still would very much like to do this.

Any regrets? I pulled way too many all-nighters, could have been far more outgoing, and should have studied better for classes whose content I really enjoyed.

Photo via Max Rettig