19 Comments
Abby Abrams
Today, we begin one of our favorite Bwog traditions: Senior Wisdoms from a few members of the graduating class. We will be bringing you some of your classmates’ nuggets of wisdom until the end of the semester, and we begin with the person least-related to Bwog—former Spectator EIC Abby Abrams.
Name, School, Major, Hometown: Abby Abrams, Barnard, English (But really James Joyce and Spec, both of which often felt like they were not written in English), St. Louis, Missouri
Claim to fame: I took Spec digital (or cut the print, depending on your preferred interpretation). One time Rick MacArthur called me in the middle of class to yell at me. Also, I wrote about sexual assault, mental health, and greek life. I probably asked you a nosy question about your thoughts on some aspect of ~student life~ at Columbia at some point.
Where are you going? First, back to Missouri to do a little hiking/nature appreciating. Then back here, to FiveThirtyEight to do some data journalism.
What are 3 things you learned at Columbia and would like to share with the Class of 2019?
1. Be passionate about something, and work really hard for that thing. Columbia is an amazing place filled with myriad opportunities, and you’d be foolish not to take advantage of them. Whether it’s theater, activism, a campus publication, research, music, student council, or anything else, those are the kinds of places you’ll meet your best friends and where you can have an impact on this campus. You can certainly spend all four years here just hanging out and coasting through classes, but the experience will be much more rewarding if you spend your time doing something you love.
2. Be kind. This applies to yourself and others. It’s easy to be snarky and to make fun of people all the time. But everyone here is trying to figure themselves out, and we could all use a little more support. Give people the benefit of the doubt, say hi to that person you had a class with two semesters ago when you pass them in Lerner, and take time to check in on your friends when you know they’re having a rough week. People will remember you for being kind and they’ll usually try to be kind back. Also, don’t be too hard on yourself. As hard as you might work on classes and extracurriculars, it’s just college, and taking care of yourself (and your friends) is almost always more important.
3. Go to office hours. Go to office hours. Go to office hours. And if you can’t because you work or are busy or whatever, ask your professors to meet at another time. Form real relationships with professors. This is seriously the most basic and most real thing you need to know. Everyone told me this when I started college and I still didn’t do it for my first two years here. Professors do want to get to know you and are open to mentoring you if you ask for help. They are some of the kindest, most brilliant people you will ever meet. Academia is hard, and these people have made it through—they are the best. Let them guide you. And most of them will give you life advice in addition to academic advice. Last year, I may or may not have broken down crying in my advisor’s office because I hadn’t slept in a week, I felt like people hated me, and I couldn’t remember which chapter of James Joyce’s Ulysses was written in newspaper-style headlines. Guess what? She didn’t kick me out or laugh at me. She handed me some tissues, told me all men are stupid, and gave me some awesome feminist literary theory that ended up helping with my thesis. Go to office hours.
“Back in my day…” People read Bwog. People already only read Spec online. UNI Cafe was still around. Indian Cafe was the best Indian food within walking distance of Columbia (RIP <3). Barnard had a pool. Attending Orgo Night was not an offense punishable by Facebook de-friending. No one talked about mental health on campus. Nor did they talk about sexual assault on campus. Bacchanal existed, and was basically fun. I thought administrators were people, too.
Justify your existence in 30 words or fewer: I don’t eat condiments.
What was your favorite class at Columbia? My favorites were The Radical Tradition in American History, taught by the man, the legend Eric Foner, and a seminar on Finnegans Wake with Philip Kitcher. Kitcher is a god. Whatever you do, take a class with him. One of the most brilliant and kindest people I’ve ever met.
Would you rather give up oral sex or cheese? I tried to come up with a funny answer for this question and failed. But approximately 100 percent of my favorite meals involve cheese. So there ya go.
One thing to do before graduating: I’ve always looked down on people who list more than “one thing” on this question, but alas, here we are.
- Spend a night nostalgically talking with friends on at least one Columbia roof.
- Go to a University Senate plenary.
- Become a regular at some place in Morningside so they know your order when you walk in.
- Attend a meeting of a club to which you don’t belong and see some of the fascinating stuff your peers spend their time doing.
- Learn to be uncomfortable—and maybe even embrace that feeling. Being able to respectfully disagree and engage with people who hold ideas different from your own will get you far in life. It will also help you sort through everything you learn here and figure out your own opinions. Let yourself be open to hearing new ideas, and if you hear something that you think could be offensive, give people a chance to explain themselves and treat your peers like human beings.
Any regrets? Of course. I am pretty happy with my time here. But still, I wish I had: Written a ranty Spec opinion column this semester. Found a way to take over the @MyLifeIsBarnard twitter account. Not gotten mono while taking Colm Toibin’s seminar so that I could have been a semi-real person. Done a few more of my readings. Participated in FemSex (I guess now called AllSex). Said hi to more people when I saw them around campus. Climbed onto the roof of Low (but perhaps there’s still time for me to complete this one).
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19 Comments
@Anonymous I think I’d have enjoyed Columbia more if I’d spent more time “just hanging out and coasting through classes” and less time trying hard at achieving temporary campus relevance.
But hey, enjoy 538!
@recent alum Truth. You have THE REST OF YOUR LIFE to work on your career/passions. College is the last time you’ll be able to just sit around on weekdays shooting the breeze with your buddies. Looking back, these are by far my best memories at Columbia. Unless you’re applying to PhD programs (and many of you are–props to you!) or financial jobs, your Columbia degree alone puts you ahead of a lot of other people when applying for jobs. Seriously, take this from someone who helps out with hiring decisions at work–the reality is that many employers will see that you went to an Ivy League school and then offer you an interview right there (you’ll still have to kick ass at the interview if you want the job, though). There’s no reason for the toxic stress culture at Columbia, and the more time you can spend just hanging out with friends, the better. Don’t coast through classes, though. Take classes that genuinely interest you, so you have an intrinsic reason to learn and engage with the material seriously.
@Butts I hope this doesn’t set the tone for entirely undeserving people getting senior wisdoms this year.
Except that I’m almost 99% sure it does. And if I’m wrong, at least you started with this to lower expectations.
@Taylor Grasdalen To the contrary, I feel that Abby is one of the most deserving people on campus. She affected huge change not only at The Spectator, but too concerning students and how they receive Columbia news. She’s also personally produced a lot of great written work. Your peers are doing and creating awesome things, and that covers a great range of areas and thought. I know finals season is a time to feel down and confused, so I understand some unseemly discernment. So, Butts: I hope you have a nice day, and good luck with your exams and the end of the semester.
@Spec insider “She affected huge change at Spectator” in the worst way. Most people who have had to work with her or for her don’t like her.
@Sammy Roth, CC '14 I doubt you’re actually a Speccie, but if you are I hope you’re not someone I worked with. Abby was one of the kindest and most compassionate people I had the pleasure of getting to know at Spec, as I’m sure anyone who read her Senior Wisdom would be able to imagine. She’s the kind of person who would never dream of trashing a fellow student in an anonymous blog comment.
@grammar, style “affected change”
“unseemly discernment”
@Harmony Hunter “too concerning”
@Anonymous She seems like a nice person, but it’s just so sketchy that she and Michael Ouimette were secretly dating during the Spec elections.
@Anonymous No offense, but this is bullshit. Michael really was the only qualified person. The alternative was a completely caustic personality.
@Anonymous He still could have gotten the job. All the situation required was a recusal and acknowledgement of conflict of interest. It happens all the time. It’s an ethical baseline, and it was failed.
@Anonymous Abby, is one of your favorite foods nachos?
@for god's sake You Nacoms really can’t resist any opportunities for transparent self-congratulations, can you.
@RC Great senior wisdom!!! Congrats, Abby! So excited to see what great things you’ll do after graduation!
@CC'16 Have fun getting the “special edition” nightly from Michael Ouimette post-grad (as if we all don’t know about that…)!
@Oh Such a good post. Enjoy the corrupt dicking, Abby!
@!! this is great!!
@Peter In her credentials she left out the most important decision of her career at Spec.
Together with Steven Lau she decided to publish Nungesser’s name because Emma and her fanatic friends from NRT said so.
Congratulations. Two people’s lives (Emma’s and Paul’s) are ruined because Spec was hungry for the clicks. There lies a splendid career ahead of her.
@Do you read? Because a police report was filed with Nungesser’s name. That became public information at the police office. It was way more than “Because Emma and NRT said so.”
Do you even go here, bro? Did you even read that article?