The title for this image is “reuben2”. I’m not mad at it.

Want to learn more about yourself and your style? Seth Benjamin has some wise words to share about being your genuine self.

Name, School, Major, Hometown: Seth Benjamin, CC ’18, Computer Science w/ Linguistics concentration, West Lafayette, IN

Claim to fame: After-hours denizen of WKCR and foulest-mouthed 1004 TA. Some ADP kid once described my guitar playing as “just random shit, no talent”.

Where are you going? I’m staying in New York to work as a code monkey.

What are 3 things you learned at Columbia and would like to share with the Class of 2022?
Embrace change. I came in with a lot of plans about what I’d study and who I’d be. My gut abandoned them all on Day 1, but my brain took a few semesters to catch up. Let yourself become who you need to become.

Respect your own style. I am incapable of following a schedule or going to bed at a reasonable hour. Sometimes I want to stay inside and be very boring. One of the most valuable things I learned in college is that all of these things are fine. The only person your workflow, social life or hobbies need to work for is yourself.

Should I take Mandarin?

Simple but effective.

What are Columbia students doing to engage with the recent movement of increased activism against gun violence? Daily Editor Isabel Sepúlveda found out by speaking to members of new organization Columbia University Against Gun Violence and attending two of the group’s events.

In the wake of the Parkland shooting this past February, there has been an uptick in activism across the country as high school students realize their political power and work to make change in their communities. While it would be impossible to say that Columbia students have been unaware of their ability to make change, even our community has been empowered by this new wave of student activism as seen in the formation of the new student organization Columbia University Against Gun Violence (CUAGV). Though only in existence for a few months, CUAGV is already ensuring they will make their mark.

Just before the March for Our Lives on March 24 of this year, I attended a poster-making event in Lerner Hall in an attempt to find a few members of CUAGV who could talk to me about their organization. I ended up talking to a few of the grad student organizers of the NYC March for Our Lives, who both highlighted the role that CUAGV played in the organization of the event and its role in bringing the campus community together. This significant organizing power was astonishing given how recently the group had come together.

A March for Our Lives participant, making a poster at the party co-hosted by CUAGV.

I mentioned this in an interview with founder of the club, Nikki Shaner-Bradford, BC ‘19; she told me that reception in the CU community to the establishment was generally positive, as there had previously been no student-led groups or initiatives at Columbia or Barnard dealing with this issue. Membership “took off exponentially” as the march approached, and activists looking for a way to get involved with the newly re-energized fight against gun violence joined. As a result, she told me that turnout from the community and those interested in the club was “far beyond expectations,” leading the group to be able to march with New York Against Gun Violence (NYAGV) and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. She described that moment as “inspiring,” and added that it was “really important that we use this momentum to push our next steps.”

And use this momentum they have. It’s been a little over a month since the March for Our Lives, and already the group has held a letter-writing event, done an event on Comedy Central, and co-hosted two panel discussions. Shaner-Bradford emphasized these new partnerships as “crucial” as CUAGV works to come into their own as an organization and figure out the best way to contribute to this conversation. About a week ago, I made my way to one of these events, a panel discussion on gun violence in America co-hosted by the Barnard Human Rights Department. Shaner-Bradford sat on the panel alongside CU Dems Lead Activist Joanna Cohen, CC ’20, Barnard history professor Matt Vaz, and Vanderbilt professor of psychiatry Jonathan Metzl.

How did the panel discussion go down?

“I am a God” – both.

It’s been an eventful few weeks ever since Kanye returned to Twitter. Can you distinguish his outlandish statements from classic Columbia Fuckboy quotes? Play and find out!

That cookie does look pretty damn good.

In our next senior wisdom , Juan Pablo Gatica, reminds us of the importance of the Oxford comma, getting outside your comfort zone, and getting a bunch of ice cream.

Name, School, Major, Hometown: Juan Pablo Gatica, Columbia College, Physics and Math Concentration, Miami, Fl

Claim to fame: I was once in a metal band… teenage me was a very different person.

Where are you going? L.A. to reapply to grad school and figure out how to adult.

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

Don’t let work/studying get in the way of friendships and getting to know people. There is no point in spending these four years without any friends to share with what will be some of the best and most fond memories.

Should I pull that all-nighter?

Everything’s beginning to look up.

For Malaya Sadler, there are other things to life besides Columbia and New York. Learn about your life’s purpose in this senior wisdom. 

Name, School, Major, Hometown: Malaya Sadler, CC, Anthropology, San Francisco.

Claim to fame: Lerner front desk girl

Where are you going? For a walk.

What are 3 things you learned at Columbia and would like to share with the Class of 2022?
Though admissions marketing might have you believe otherwise, Columbia and New York are not the center of the universe. The things we value here, on this campus and in this city, aren’t remotely universal, normal, or sane. The prestige, social status, and resumé brownie points you rack up here might have their pragmatic uses, but these uses are fundamentally limited. Don’t resign yourself to “selling out” just because it feels like there are no other options—don’t build your personality around a unnecessarily specific, intellectually impoverished definition of success. Take a weird, no-name internship just because the people are interesting. Join an archaeology dig in Kazakhstan. Join a political campaign. Date off-campus. Drink off-campus. Change your major if you’re not in love with it. Decide on a class based on flipping through reading lists in the back of Book Culture. Go very far away and see who you are without this place. Contrary to how it feels or what consulting recruiting timelines and your mother might tell you, you have plenty of time.

Don’t sell out, even after the jump

Pictured: Either a student in the middle of a final they haven’t studied for, or a volcano.

Bwogline: The Kilauea eruption on Hawaii is spewing high levels of toxic sulfur dioxide. A local state of emergency is in effect, with some residents evacuating to avoid lava and fires. (NYT)

Study Tip: If you’re having trouble focusing on a task (or focusing at all), start with something small and easily accomplishable– something that can be done in five-minute bursts. Beginning with an easier task is a good stepping stone to doing other work.

Procrastination Tip: Remember that list of shows you’ve always been meaning to start? Are you the one friend who still hasn’t seen Breaking Bad, or Making a Murderer, or Parks and Recreation? Just go for it.

Music:

Overheard: “Wait for me!” [Followed by audible sounds of someone falling down]

Kilauea by the USGS via Wikimedia Commons.