Featuring Alexa’s brief period of Twitter fame!

Name, School, Major, Hometown: Alexa Silverman, Barnard, History, Pittsburgh, PA

Claim to fame: Chelsea Peretti, a Barnard alumna, responded when I tweeted asking her which dorm was the best to cry in (according to her, it’s River)!

Where are you going? Right after this, I am going to take a nice long beach trip and sit down to read all the books I’ve been saving for the past four years. After that, to quote the Beach Boys, God only knows.

What are 3 things you learned at Columbia and would like to share with the Class of 2026?

1. It’s never too late to make friends

2. It’s also important to learn to enjoy being alone !

3. Beyond Barnard resources are available for life

“Back in my day…” Barnard’s entire campus was an active construction site.

Favorite Columbia controversy? It has to be a tie between when the infamous “Venmo Me for My Emotional Labor” Spec op-ed dropped or when, in response to students getting heatstroke in the dorms, Barnard suggested “eating celery” to keep cool.

What was your favorite class at Columbia? It’s really hard to choose, so I’m not going to: Medieval Cultures of the Book with Professor Christopher Baswell and Environmental Health Justice with Professor Ana Navas-Acien were some of the most rewarding classes I’ve ever taken, even on Zoom.

Would you rather give up oral sex or cheese? I may be slightly lactose-intolerant, but even so cheese has brought SO much more joy to my life.

Whom would you like to thank? My parents, sisters, and dog, who have supported me throughout literally everything. A big thank you to my academic advisors as well. Also, my beautiful friends, most of whom I met Freshman year and have hung on to ever since <3

One thing to do before graduating: Downloading as much as I can from Courseworks before I lose access.

Any regrets? I want to say no, but if I’m being truly honest, I really wanted to host a college radio station. Maybe in my next life!

Portrait via Alexa