Ta-da!

And so it ends—not with a bang, but with a whimper—the last semester of the first decade of the new millennium. And if you needed more roundabout and somewhat forced catharsis than that, we asked for your professors’ closing remarks, and here is a collection of the most outstanding. Feel free to leave any we forgot in the comments. Study well!

Paige West, Interpretation of Culture:
“Remember, condoms rhymes with fun.”

Susan Elmes, Intermediate Microeconomics
Wincing after rolling a chalkboard in need of WD-40: “I am NOT going to miss this chalkboard.”

Panagiota Daskalopoulos, Ordinary Differential Equations
After talking about her time as a grad student at the University of Chicago, in reference to exams: “You know how it’s like when someone has suffered a lot, and they want to make other people suffer too?”

David Weinstein, Economic Organization and Development of Japan
“Will Japan be able to restore its growth again? Well, if Japan grows again it will provide a world of opportunity for you, and a new set of lecture notes for me.”

“Just because Japan has an aging population does not mean we can assume that there will be a blow out of the budget deficit. There are costs associated with young people. They tend to do things like commit crimes… and form drug cartels. But only Columbia College students would do that. Not the GS students here.”

James Shapiro, Shakespeare I
Suggesting a possible question for the final exam: “Drugs and incest: How do A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Hamlet prepare you for Columbia?”

Cathy Popkin, Literature and Empire
“I’m always ready to talk about Chekhov. I still have my ‘I love Chekhov’ tattoo.”

Caterina Musatti, Principles of Economics
“Around the year zero, when Jesus was born, it would have taken you about 7,000 years for the economy to double output. Maybe Jesus should have focused more on the economy… then again, when you can come back from the dead, you don’t really have a great concept of time.”

Gary Okihiro, Intro to Comparative Ethnic Studies
“Do your best to leave behind traces of a life well-lived.”

Roosevelt Montas, CC
“Locke is like a Christmas carol—music to our ears.”

Marcellus Andrews, Intro to Economic Reasoning
“We should really have a class on how to fuck.”

Beau Shaw, CC
“So… did any of you spend the weekend in jail?”

Evan Neely, Art Hum
“I have nothing more to say about art. Now you have to look at it yourself and figure it out. Actually, no. Go get a drink now. Tomorrow, look at art.”

“If you don’t see the value in understanding how other people make meaning… that’s not my problem.”

Randall Balmer, Unknown Class
After handing out the finals and leaving the TA to proctor: “Alright… well… have a nice life!”

Sarah Schaeffer, Art Hum
“But I don’t wanna end the class talking about Nazis, so here’s a picture of The Simpsons.”

Richard Sacks, Lit Hum
[A student asks, “Will we need any of our books for next semester?”]
“I don’t know. It depends, maybe you’ll go to a party like Jesus and run out of wine and you’ll need extra shelf space to hold a few 6 packs at all times to keep up the party.”

Gary Okihiro, Intro to Comparative Ethnic Studies
“You don’t wake up in the morning and go, ‘Damn! I’m white!'”

Matthew Jones, CC
“I kept trying to get you guys to talk about sex, drugs, and rock & roll, but all you wanted to talk about was public policy.”

Christia Mercer, Lit Hum
“Rock, paper, scissors, penises! …and vaginas! it’s the end of the semester, anything goes!”