Presenting Sidney of showing-up-to-her-dad’s-Chemistry-class-late-and-in-someone-else’s-sweatpants fame. Also the unofficial Nicest Person At Barnard.

Name, School, Major, Hometown: Sidney Rojas, Barnard College, Medical Anthropology, New York, NY

Claim to fame: I’m really outing myself here, but the freshman year Sulz 7 lounge Facebook post was written about me (if you know, you know). 

Where are you going? Chile! 

What are 3 things you learned at Columbia and would like to share with the Class of 2025?

  1. The paper towel section in Westside is a great place to think, hang out, and finish drinks you take from Mels.
  2. Get out there. Spend hours on the lawns with your friends, go to office hours for that professor who you think is the coolest, go to every bacchanal and homecoming, go on that run, leave the Morningside Heights bubble. Just do what makes you happy and do it with those you love. 
  3. Ask and really listen. Ask for help when you need it and listen to the insight you receive in return. The benches nobody sits on outside of Altschul is a great place for this. Ask for and listen to other people’s stories – stories about their lives, their days, their ambitions. You won’t be disappointed. 

“Back in my day…” I hung out in the toddler center instead of Milstein 2. I didn’t find out about the two-way glass until much later.  

Favorite Columbia controversy? The crusade to find professor Rojas’s daughter and the fact that she “deprived” orgo students of his teaching. Sorry Valentina for the misdirected anger. Sorry for being born. 

What was your favorite class at Columbia? Toxic with Professor Vanessa Agard-Jones

Would you rather give up oral sex or cheese? Why is everyone so shy? We all know we’d give up cheese. 

Who would you like to thank? I would like to thank my professors for your passion and care, my peers for your thoughtfulness and wit, my family for your love and support, and my friends for bringing me endless joy. 

One thing to do before graduating: Go back to the design center and embroider all of my clothing.

Any regrets? Missing surf n’ turf every year. I hear you get a full pint of ice cream.