Name, school: Arash Bahar, CC

Claim to fame: VP of Columbia Iranian Student Association: the organization that raises awareness for the current Green Movement in Iran and brings you such staples as Persian Passions and Campo’s Valentine’s Day Crunkfest. And on a serious note, founder of Thug Passions.

Where are you going? Have no idea so I’m doing the apparent Ivy League thing and going to Law School at UCLA

Three things you learned at Columbia:

  1. You can always make up for sleep, but you can’t make up for your time at Columbia so meet as many people as you can and explore NYC.
  2. Columbia is filled with the best and brightest minds so always give into peer pressure. Right?
  3. The MEALAC professors are not a bunch of radical and biased professors, but rather will challenge you to think critically and give you the kind of college experience that you dream about in high school.

Justify your existence in 30 words or fewer: Thug Passions: the weekly Senior Day Party to balance Senior Nights. You guys know what’s up and if you don’t know, now you know.

Any war stories from the War on Fun? Who doesn’t have a war story? Here’s one from my time in Watt… So my roommate and I throw a party because I have some HS friends visiting and it’s pretty packed because well, it’s a weekend at college. Like every host knows, constantly signing people in is to be expected, so my HS buddy helps me out and takes over the door. A few minutes go by and there is a stern knock at the door. The knockers ask if Arash and David are in the room, to which my buddy responds, “I don’t even know a David. Do you mean Big D?! Anyway, the party is full”. He then promptly slams the door in their faces. They immediately knock again and make sure to introduce themselves as the RAs on Duty. Needless to say, the party was over.

Would you rather give up oral sex or cheese? Whoa whoa whoa. So no pizza from Koronets?! No Philly Cheese from M2M?! No Nachos from the Heights?! No Spice Specials from Crack Del?! And No Cheez-its from the vending machines?! So yeah, I’ll give up cheese.

Any advice for the Class of 2014? The Columbia Community is more than just the students and faculty. It’s the maintenance staff, security guards, street vendors, waiters/waitresses, managers, and bouncers (props to Stacy, but not his little brother Humpty Dumpty). Don’t hesitate to strike up a conversation and you can honestly establish genuine friendships. Oh, and if you decide to use a fakey and are caught by a bouncer, don’t respond with “Yeah, that’s me”. Bouncers know that the entire student body are not from California.

Any regrets? I should have seen more shows and performances on campus. I hear all these kids are immensely talented.