It’s bittersweet saying goodbye to the brilliant bwogger of many hats: Senior Staff Writer, Finance Manager, Peoplehopstress, and Dean Chang Correspondent.

Name, School, Major, Hometown: Elizabeth (Libby) Walker, SEAS, Computer Science, Mechanicsburg, PA.

Claim to Fame: Your token CS major friend, ex-Columbia Admissions assistant, senior Dean Chang correspondent.

Where are you going: Returning to Pennsylvania to be a software engineer!

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

  1. Don’t worry about anyone else’s timeline but your own. You will find an internship/job, make friends, join clubs you love, but it takes different amounts of time for everyone. None of those things really happened for me until my junior year, but I’m so happy to have them all now. If you can stick it out, it will happen for you too.
  2. Go to events on and off campus! For on-campus events, check Bwog’s events roundups which are posted every Sunday. For off-campus events, stay up-to-date with 1iota for talk shows and movie premiere tickets, The Strand + Books Are Magic for literary events, and OLV for film + television filming in the city. For all other NYC events, check Time Out weekly. For Columbia events on and off campus, check your class council emails and stay updated with the Urban New York Facebook page to get free standby tickets for Broadway shows. And always show up 30 minutes early for Columbia merch drops—they’re a blood bath.
  3. Go to the TAs’ office hours if you are in a STEM class. At the start of the semester, go to each TA’s office hours until you figure out the one who is the best at explaining (or gives the most hints for) your problem sets then go to their office hours every week. This will make your life easier.

“Back in my day…” You had to order JJ’s online for pickup and book two-hour slots at the library. It was mandatory to get two COVID-19 tests a week in Roone, and if you missed your appointment, you got put in quarantine.

Favorite Columbia controversy? GabNYC’s maskless indoor birthday party in February 2021 and the Columbia Confessions content it inspired.

What was your favorite class at Columbia? User Interface Design with Lydia Chilton and Shakespeare I with Peter Platt. Both of these classes opened up my imagination to what was possible in my career and made the junior year course load much more enjoyable.

Whom would you like to thank? My best friends, Kaitlyn and Jing. My wonderful roommate, Lillian Rountree. My family for always listening to me complain about my classes. The Bwog board and editors for making a fun environment where people want to write interesting articles. And anyone who’s ever made me feel welcome in a place I was afraid I didn’t belong.

One thing to do before graduating: Walk to Washington Square Park and back on your own. Your feet will hate you, but you’ll have a much richer understanding of the city.

Any regrets? Not getting into research. I did a lot of cold emailing labs my first two years to try to find a CS research position, and I regret taking the rejection too hard and giving up.

Libby via Sydney Lee