Avinoam’s title for this photo is “my one day as a social justice warrior”

Our last Senior Wisdom of the day is from Avinoam Stillman, who lives at the Bayit, is often mistaken for a GS or grad student, and has some thoughts on the Columbia bubble. 

Name, School, Major, Hometown: Avinoam Stillman, Columbia College, Religion, Brookline, MA

Claim to fame: All sorts of Jewish things: second cousin once removed of Hasidic pop star and GS student Lipa Schmelzer, living at the Bayit, playing trumpet in Columbia’s klezmer band, studying Yiddish, participating in religious life at Hillel. Also, having the great distinction of living between Rachel Fifi Culp and our RA in John Jay freshman year.

Where are you going? First, on a national park/cross-country road/camping trip with my best friend from childhood, then hanging around New York for a month or so- I’ve still got a lot of issues to resolve in my love/hate (mostly love) relationship with this city. In September I hope to join several thousand Jews in the Rosh HaShanah pilgrimage to the grave of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov in Uman, Ukraine: it’s sort of like a Hasidic Burning Man held in a post-Soviet urban wasteland. After that I plan on starting an MA program in Jewish Thought in Israel for a couple of years, followed by more decisions.

What are 3 things you learned at Columbia and would like to share with the Class of 2021?

1) Make friends with anyone who is older than the average CC/SEAS/BC student. Don’t get me wrong, our classmates are great, but as someone who was constantly being mistaken for a grad or GS student, I can testify that the latter are worth getting to know. Not just because they’ve often lived longer and more interesting lives than you, but because they tend to be weirder, wiser, and funnier. On the same note, make friends with your professors. I wish I had put more time into going to office hours and just shmoozing. Talking to us is part of their job, so take advantage of them.

2) People call college a bubble, and I imagine they’re right, but it’s a translucent bubble, and the world outside looks pretty fantastic from the inside. Try to use your education to experience, even if just from afar, ways of life that are very distant from your own. For me, Hinduism with Professor Jack Hawley was one of those kinds of classes.

3) Don’t stress. Really. My friend Jazmyna once reminded me of something that I think about a lot: we don’t “have to” be here. We choose to be here, which means we shouldn’t feel trapped. You can switch majors or schools, drop out or take a leave of absence, go work on a farm or at Starbucks, and your life will not end. Being here is a tremendous blessing; use Columbia, don’t let Columbia use you.

“Back in my day…” Faust and King Lear were on the LitHum syllabus, JJ 6 was the highest floor, and campus politics were still too often toxic.

Justify your existence in 30 words or fewer: Since taking Hegel with Neuhouser, I’ve realized that my existence is justified by recognizing that the existence of others does not negate my own existence but rather affirms it.

What was your favorite class at Columbia? American Transcendentalism with the brilliant and mindbending Professor Branka Arsic. The only class I’ve taken twice, once as a lecture and once as a seminar. She managed to convincingly claim that for Emerson “self reliance” actually means having a transparent, fluid self. (Think about that one for a while…)

Would you rather give up oral sex or cheese? Depending on the situation, whichever was less kosher.

One thing to do before graduating The Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Butler (where I worked for the amazing Jewish Studies librarian Michelle Chesner, cataloging Hebrew books) has incredible resources for you as a student. Spend some time flipping through a medieval codex filled with mystical incantations and obscure diagrams, just because you can.

Any regrets? Not including a whole bunch of classes I wish I had (or hadn’t) taken, I regret not playing more music andnot going to more museums in the city. Anticipating graduation, I regret losing touch with friends, although I’ll try hard to avoid that.

Photo via Avinoam Stillman