Resident CS queen Shivani shares sage advice about pictures, food, and of course, her monitor.

Name, School, Major, Hometown: Shivani, SEAS, Computer Science, Flowood, MS.

Claim to fame: Probably held your hand through CS, whether as an ADI CS Mentorship Lead or as the head TA of Intro to Python 1006 <3

Where are you going? Home for a little bit, taking lots of naps, and traveling to some national parks before I start working for Microsoft in Seattle!

What are 3 things you learned at Columbia and would like to share with the Class of 2027?

1. Take pictures of every happy, silly, and weird moment while you are here at Columbia. Take a photo of the water bottle guy, the baby rat on Low, or near the pretty trees on College Walk when you and your friends come back from dinner. The photos are a keepsake that will remind you of your college days that you would—at least for me—definitely have forgotten and can cherish for the years to come.
2. Get Grilled Cheese and Tomato Basil Soup on Wednesday lunch at Ferris. Find the foods near campus that comfort you when you are missing home or having a bad day.
3. Invest in a monitor and a space heater. It can only bring you good things. Like watching TV shows while working on your programming assignment under a warm blanket.

Back in my day… Uris was simply the Business Library, not the place that serves all-you-can-eat subs that seem like good choices in the moment, but you later regret.

Favorite Columbia controversy? Lawn politics. Who decided that the lawns can be closed for “renovations”?

What was your favorite class at Columbia? Hands down, Intro to Darkroom in the Visual Arts Department. Learned a lot about film photography by developing and printing my own film (feel free to stalk my work).
Also, really loved Computer Vision II with Prof. Vondrick and Intro to Databases with Prof. Ferguson—both professors are legendary and wonderful!

Whom would you like to thank? My family that has supported me from day one. Peppermint mochas that have fueled me each morning for my 10:10s. My sweet-mates that feel like my siblings. The kind workers at Strokos that remind me of the hospitality from my hometown. The huskies on campus that let me pet them. Every friend of mine that has gone to Prince Tea and Grace Street with me.

One thing to do before graduating: Have a main character moment by watching the sunset from DUMBO.

Any regrets? Not buying a monitor sooner tbh.

Shivani via Solomia Dzhaman