Evan Burger

Tonight’s Senior Wisdom: Evan Burger, of SWS fame, who calls us out on our own darker past.

Name, Hometown, School: Evan Burger; Huxley, Iowa; CC (Philosophy major)

Claim to fame: Founding member/lead organizer of Student-Worker Solidarity by day, Lerner manager by night.

Where are you going? Starting June 3rd, I’ll be fighting corporate power in the heartland as a community organizer with a group called Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement.

Three things you learned at Columbia:

• 1) Contrary to appearances, no one has it all figured out. Columbia students are pros at constructing the image of a perfect life, but that’s always a facade. Everyone has problems, usually big ones.
• 2) The key to successful drinking is hydration: downing a couple bottles of water after a long night is by far the easiest way to make sure you don’t feel like shit the next morning.
• 3) When in doubt, err on the side of being friendly. It takes so little effort but makes life so much better!

Back in my day…Bwog was blue, you could get around the print quota with ctrl-alt-backspace, and the incredible deal that is $8.50 12-packs of PBR at Rite-Aid did not exist.

Justify your existence in 30 words or fewer: I like to think I have a unique grounding in both political theory and actual practice — I can debate post-structuralist theory, but also explain the nitty-gritty of direct action tactics.

Write a CU Admirers post to anyone or anything at Columbia: Potluck House: from your well-appointed foyer to your fifth floor “office,” I adore your every inch. I don’t know how you do it, but you manage to stay classy even when you’re absolutely filthy. You’re welcoming, you’re homey, and I’m so glad I found you.

Oh yeah, and your tenants are pretty awesome as well :)

Would you rather give up oral sex or cheese? Midwestern cuisine is very dairy-heavy… It’s a tough decision, but I can’t cut myself off from my culinary roots.

One thing to do before graduating: Fight for something bigger than yourself. Having fun is important (especially at Columbia), but I’ve found that being a part of a community that’s fighting for a better world is when I’m happiest.

Any regrets? Yeah, of course — it’s easy to look back and see all the awesome classes you didn’t take (and the stupid ones you did), all the people you only met senior year that you wish you would have met the first week, and all the opportunities that you squandered. But this kind of thinking does absolutely nothing besides make you miserable. I can honestly say I’m so happy with my life right now, and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat!