Our next Senior Wisdom is from Jake Davidson, founder of The Lion and ambassador to sandwiches everywhere.

Jake Davidson

Name, Hometown, School, Major: Jake Davidson, Manhattan, Columbia College, Political Science/MESAAS

Claim to fame: Founded The Lion, worked as Online Editor for Spectator, am one of like three hockey fans at Columbia

Where are you going? Maybe journalism, maybe government, maybe the Middle East. Maybe Columbia again next year because I keep missing my PE class.

What are 3 things you learned at Columbia and would like to share with the Class of 2018?

1. Be ambitious. Columbia is a place where hardworking people can really make an impact, and there are so many opportunities for students with passion. Don’t wait until junior year before realizing you want to do big things, because it’s a lot harder when you’re playing catch up.

2. Be ambitious, but don’t make the mistake of thinking everything is life or death. Friends and the relationships you build here are what’s really important, and they’re one of the few things that will last beyond Columbia. It’s all too easy to get caught up in your extracurriculars or academics and end up alienating the people you care about.

3. Work hard at something. New students, we all know you’re very smart. You can easily do no work for four years, go out every night, and graduate with a 3.0 – 3.5 by taking easy classes and phoning in assignments. You’ll also have wasted the greatest opportunity ever handed to you. If academics aren’t your thing, that’s fine. Join a club, join a sport, join a publication, JOIN THE LION, and work your ass off. No one leave Columbia regretting how much they accomplished, but just about everyone wishes they’d left a little bit more of a legacy before it was all over.

“Back in my day…” Spectator was in print, we had a dean of Student Affairs, people used to protest Orgo Night, and no one knew how Prezbo would deal with a post-apaocalyptic Columbia staffed entirely by robots.

Justify your existence in 30 words or fewer: Sandwich. Ambassador.

Write your most memorable note from the field: Walking out of Uris and overhearing a student cheerfully informing her friend that “it’s not too late to fail out of college!” Truly words to live by.

Would you rather give up oral sex or cheese? I would pick a different hypothetical and wish for more wishes.

One thing to do before graduating: Go running around the Reservoir during the Spring. If you aren’t so overwhelmed by New York’s natural (and unnatural) beauty that you fall to your knees and weep uncontrollably for hours then you might as well have gone to Penn or something.

Any regrets? Tons. But I wouldn’t be the person I am today if I didn’t make each of those mistakes. My lowest point at Columbia was literally the best thing that ever happened to me, and I think that’s true for a lot of people.