Bwautumns up!

As people, we live in the world. And during this time of the year, we take time to reflect on all parts of that existence. Amidst the thousand-fold lives living around 116th street, there are bounties—cornucopias—full of the big and the small deserving thanks. Here are a few.

To the lovely living parts of nature:

• Riverside Racoons.
• Rats at night.
  • “For reminding me I’m not alone.”
  • “They’re cute and it makes me happy to see them.”
• Barnard Greenhouse.
• Sunlight.
• The plants on my windowsill.
• Riverside.
  • “For healing me when I’m unwell.”
• My plants.
• Morningside Heights wildlife.
• The sun.
• Central Park.
  • “The parts that are so surrounded by trees you forget you’re in the city.”
• The pigeons that sit above the entrance to Dodge with their feathers puffed.
• My little succulents!
• The elusive black squirrel that lives in the Barnard quad.
  • “I love her.” 
• The sound of cicadas outside Lerner in the evenings.

To miracles:

• My registration time.
  • “9:30 am Monday baby.”
    • “That’s senior privilege for you!”
• SSOL not crashing when I registered for next semester.
• My CC class for having only essays no exams.
• Finding a major I really love.
• The moment when you leave the Barnard quad and it miraculously becomes ten degrees warmer.
• Spec Op-Eds for making me laugh at the crazy takes people actually thought would be a good idea to publish.
• The selfies of professor Gregory Bryda smirking in front of monuments that he slips into his art history slides and then is extremely embarrassed about. 
  • “God I love this man.”
• Gallica.
  • “The French were wrong on a lot of things, but they went off with a free, online public access database with random old newspapers that have everything I need for my research.”
• Good Sophomore housing waitlist placements.
• The fact that I have class in Riverside Church 4 days a week.

To the delicious food that nourishes us:

• Cafe East.
  • As a whole.
  • But also the vanilla matcha latte with oat milk.
    • “Only matcha that does not make my stomach hurt.”
• Diana:
  • Burrito bowls.
  • Gluten free pizza.
  • Salsa verde.
    • “It’s the only thing that makes those bowls edible.” 
• Kombucha from Westside Market.
• Roti Roll.
• NYC tap water.
• Chocolate chip loaf.
  • From Butcaf, specifically.
• JJ’s Place.
  • Chocolate milkshakes.
  • “The piles of oatmeal I get with JJ’s express swipes.”
• John Jay:
  • Chicken shawarma.
  • Deconstructed cannoli!
• Chef Mike’s. 
  • Lentil soup. 
• Sparkling water. 
• Tortillas.
• Those little ramen packets Morton Williams has near the cash registers.
• Faculty house flan. 
• Sunday brunch at Hewitt.
• Olive and rosemary bread.
• London fogs.
• Salsa.
• Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper
• Ferris:
  • “Pasta with Alfredo sauce and broccoli.”

To the waking, waving, walking world:

• Thrift stores.
• The subway.
  • “I really do love it. It’s so fun and interesting.” 
  • The one. 
• Milstein green chairs.
• Avery Library.
• When friends develop each other’s slang/mannerisms.
  • “So wholesome.”
• Long walks through Riverside.

To the floors, walls, and roofs of our housing:

• The view from my living room window.
• The way sunlight comes into my room.
• My comfy, comfy bed. 
• My friends’ dorms. 
• When the light shines through my window and hits my bed.
  • “Prime napping light.”
• Dorm mini fridges.
• Having AC.
• My apartment. 
• My dorm floor.
  • It’s a good study spot.”
• The water pressure in the Sulz floor 3 showers.
• My lovely corner room that has three windows and gets a lot of sunlight.

To everyone: the peoples and the persons:

• Barnard.
• Gay people.
• The Harmony security guard.
• The John Jay dining lady.
• My professors for just being themselves.
• My roommates as well.
• My classes and my teachers <333. 
• The entire MPP staff.
• The haters.
• My friends who are passionate about the most random things.
• Anybody who is bold enough to show off all layers of their personality, because it’s so rare these days.
• Virgos.
• Aries women.
• Smart people.
• Helpful TAs and their grade-saving office hours. 
  • My Intro Biology TA
    • “For being one of the most helpful people alive.”
  • My Physics TA.
  • “My TA from my Dante class who is the coolest person ever.”
• The registrar.
  • “For believing I’m a class year ahead of what I actually am and giving me registration a day early.”
• People who are patient with me.
• The men I’m friends with.
  • “They are all irreplaceable gems.”
• My roommates!
  • “They’re the best people in the world.”
• My thesis advisors.
  • “They believed in me when no one else did.”
• Leonora Carrington and her short story, “My Mother is a Cow.”
• My incredible work study coworkers <33.
• The people who walk past our apartment at night when they’re on their own sadgirl walks.
• When two dudes were forming a band outside the kitchen window for an hour and a half.
• My lovely roommate.
• The icon himself, professor Andrew Leren Lynn.
• The incredible employees who work at Diana.
• New friends and branching out.
• My partner <3.
• My amazing classes this semester and amazing professors. 
• My amazing roommate.
• My old Lit Hum professor who is now my friend.
• Everyone who reads what I write.
  • “I’m so sorry, but thank you!”

To all the splendid things:

• All the books I’ve collected this semester.
• The color changing pencils at the Milstein library.
• The coat my sister gave me.
• Tall pants and black turtlenecks. 
• Pinterest inspiring me to change my style.
• All of the free stuff I get from the Barnard library Google scholar.
• Interesting discussions. 
• Spotify.
• The chairs in all of the Columbia libraries.
• My inner monologue.
• ArtHum.
• Laughing at my own jokes.
• My 6 excused absences allotted to me for PE.
• Literally everything.
  • “I love this school, y’all.”

And:

• Bwog!! Bwog bwog bwog and daily editing. 
• Bwog <3.
• bwog <3.
• Bwog <3.
• bwog.
• And obviously, Bwog.

The Beginning of Autumn, František Kaván via Wikimedia Commons