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