Is this the TC pillow pit?

Zoey Chopra brings home our last senior wisdom of the day, with advice on living your best life at Columbia.

Name, School, Major, Hometown: Zoey Chopra; Columbia College; Econ-Math, Biochem, Classics; Oakland, CA

Claim to fame: Turn 21 on Class Day; Member of every Columbia and Barnard FB class page; the better half of Zohab

Where are you going? Off to Michigan for 10-ish years to do an MD/PhD in Economics

What are 3 things you learned at Columbia and would like to share with the Class of 2022?

  1. Laugh
  2. Cry
  3. Free and amazing food most weekends in Warren Hall for MBA students – there are usually leftovers.

“Back in my day…” There was #HOPE when now it might be #NOPE, Deluxe sucks, Ollie’s had follies, Tea Magic wasn’t tragic, Cannon’s was bae, and M2M ruled the day.

Justify your existence in 30 words or fewer: Insomnia (& Kaplan) Rep 2K14 – 2K18

What was your favorite class at Columbia? Not to play favorites, but anything with Professor Gareth Williams in the Classics Department may just change your life. Advanced Microeconomics with Professor Susan Elmes in the Economics Department, Game Theory with Professor Benjamin Ho in the Economics Department, and Physical Chemistry II with Professor XYZ in the Chemistry Department were also incredible.

Would you rather give up oral sex or cheese? If I never had to say cheese before taking a photo again, I might actually smile for once.

Whom would you like to thank? The Academy of course. Definitely Sir Mike, and everyone else at Columbia who’s put up with our shit for so long so patiently. Definitely the fam bam. Special shout out to the co-founder of Zohab and the Designer Duo: Gucci and Juicy – don’t know where I’d be without ’em. Tin Tin at Nous Cafe in the Philosophy Hall. My research advisors. Dean Andrew Plaa in CSA, Dean Becky Curtin Ugolnik in CSA, and Dean Lisa Hollibaugh in APA – everyone should seriously meet these wonderful souls. The SIPAls / Hobbits of Isengard. Key and Peele for redefining my understanding of breakfast. And of course, the illustrious (to-be Dr.) Ali G Tezel.

One thing to do before graduating: I’m going to have to be that guy and recommend three things…

  1. Get coffee (best on campus) from Nous (Philosophy Hall) or some other beverage or libation with a friend or few, and sit on Low steps in the late evening – with backpacks close enough that you can feel like you’ll get work done, but far enough that you’ll never actually open them – and just talk. When you need to move your feet a bit, get a boba, and come back. When you get a little hungry, get Koronets or halal, and come back. And just talk. Laugh. Stay up the whole night. Have the existential chat or two. Dive deep. Maybe cry a lil. Hug it out. Cry a lil more. Laugh again. Stay up until at least sunrise (at least). Then sleep in.
  2. Discover the pillow pit at Teacher’s College!!!
  3. Depends on the person, but Subway Party is definitely worth the hype.

Any regrets? I slept through a midterm freshman year…and wasn’t allowed to retake it. So that sucked.

Photo via Zoey Chopra