Riya Mirchandaney discusses impostor syndrome, hugs, and lentil soup.

Name, School, Major, Hometown:
Riya Mirchandaney, CC, Psychology, “near San Francisco”

Claim to fame:
Being rejected from Spec twice, being rejected from SURF twice, and being the least qualified person to be nominated for a Senior Wisdom. Also, I make a mean lentil soup.

Where are you going?
Where am I “going”? Where do you think I’m going. Fucking nowhere. Fuck off!

(I will be doing clinical research at UCSF, and one day perhaps I will go to graduate school, but fate is a mysterious and wretched beast…)

What are 3 things you learned at Columbia and would like to share with the Class of 2024?

  1. Make time for your friends. I don’t care how many assignments you have, how many club meetings, how many whatever the fucks. If you are constantly wigging out about the Krebs cycle instead of showing the people in your life that you love and support them, you are going to regret it. Being too busy for other people is some capitalist Columbia stress culture bullshit, and it does NOT make you cool.
  2. The impostor syndrome never really goes away, but neither does CPS. Give Dialectical Behavior Therapy a try.
  3. Whatever you think your life is, that’s what it’s not, and that’s what it won’t be, but that’s okay because you are still you, and you will always be you, even if it is a different you… you feel me?
  4. Bonus: Go to Mood Ring.

“Back in my day…” 
We got to hug our homies :(

Favorite Columbia controversy?
Calculate Your Free Time 👀

What was your favorite class at Columbia?
Social History of American Public Health with James Colgrove—taking it in the middle of a global public health crisis is maybe a little on the nose, but Colgrove is simply a Silver Fox, and public health is so wild and important! Also I have loved everything with Nim Tottenham, whose passion for developmental psychology inspired my research interests and made me feel a little better about being a person.

Would you rather give up oral sex or cheese?
I’ll keep whichever gives me less reflux.

Whom would you like to thank?
My mom and dad, All My Friends, my sister for buying me food, Kevin who works at the Claremont front desk, Plowshares Coffee, HamDel sausage egg and cheese, everyone at the Perinatal Pathways lab, Absolute Bagels, Thai Market for bookending my undergrad experience, Bernie Sanders, Fiona Apple, the guy who narrated the “Doubled Magic” video, and of course my man Mitch.

One thing to do before graduating:
Cry on as many subway lines as you can. The 1 is a cliché but you have to start somewhere. The L is ideal if you want to feel like you’re on an episode of HBO’s Girls (I have never seen the show, but I think I am correct in saying this). The 6 if you want to feel like you’re on an episode of Sex and the City (I have also never seen this show). The midtown shuttle is so chaotic you have no option but to break down. The Prospect Park shuttle—edgy. The G—who are you?

Any regrets?
Graduating during a pandemic, never going to Bacchanal, and uhhhhh 66.67% of the Columbia guys I dated.

Riya Mirchandaney via Riya