Maya recommends maximizing familiarity with campus libraries.

Name, School, Major, Hometown: Maya Scott Puri; SEAS 2021-2023 (Lawrence University 2018-2021); Mechanical Engineering (Physics); San Gabriel, California 

Claim to fame: Being in MaMa Project 2022 and creating the MaMa Project 2023. Dancing and laughing with friends. My Spring 2022 Orchesis piece to Supercut by Lorde has also been acclaimed by some. 

Where are you going? To my mom’s in Pasadena, and then coming back! I have to. I need to. 

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

  1. There are people who have been here before you and have done exactly what you’ve done and that is not scary but comforting
  2. Life is incredibly long, so don’t worry about being in any one place for too long
  3. Life is damn short, so savor every moment 

“Back in my day…” I dunno, I’ve only been here two years guys… but when I arrived two falls ago we couldn’t go into dorms we didn’t live in. Can’t exactly remember the reason why though… 

Favorite Columbia controversy? There is little to no place to dance and/or exist and I don’t like clubs having to pay to use Roone. These maybe don’t count as controversies. 

What was your favorite class at Columbia? Intro to Fluids with Professor Karen E. Kasza. She’s my PI now. Is this a kiss-up answer? Maybe but I mean it!! 

Would you rather give up oral sex or cheese? From a standpoint of pure reason and logic, I will say cheese because of my severe lactose intolerance. It would be good for me to give up cheese completely! So like obviously I’m choosing that. Purely intellectual answer. 

Whom would you like to thank? My mom would be mad if I didn’t thank her but also I’d like to thank my mom. And my enemies. 

One thing to do before graduating: Go to every library, smoke in every courtyard, kiss all my friends on the mouth.

Any regrets? I wish I had spent less time worrying about what everyone else thinks of me. They probably don’t think of me. They probably hate me. You must live/laugh/dance like no one likes you.

Portrait via Maya