Blurry & beautiful

Our Senior Wisdom for today is from Fahmida Hussain, who hasn’t paid for her textbooks, loves Pisticci, and misses a better Midnight Breakfast.

Name, School, Major, Hometown: Fahmida Hussain, Barnard College, Economics major, WGSS minor, Paterson, NJ

Claim to fame: I haven’t paid for a single textbook during my time here!

Where are you going? I’m going nowhere fast if I’m being honest. Just kidding–I’m going home at the end of this semester, back to Jersey to see my family!!!

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

1. One thing I learned at Columbia was how to find and utilize the resources available to me. There’s borrow direct, there’s interlibrary loan, there’s library reserves, and there’s soooo many PDFs available online that you can find a lot of books you need for classes without spending a fortune. There’s laptop chargers you can borrow from Butler if you lose yours. There are tutoring centers, the ERC (which is so amazing), research librarians, and so many other people out there who just want to help, so make sure to reach out!

2. I learned that there’s a lot of interesting people to meet here, and that it’s always worth it to introduce yourself and talk to someone new, even if you already have an established friend group. Everyone you meet has something to teach you and something to learn from you.

3. I learned how to make lasting friendships, how to seek support when I need it, and how to support others. Friendship is the most important thing I learned during my time here. It’s important to get your work done, but sometimes you gotta turn the laptop off, put your book away, and take a walk through Riverside with your friend, because that stuff matters too.

“Back in my day…” Midnight breakfast was fun and you didn’t have to stand in line and get patted down if you wanted powdered doughnuts and vegan bacon. Back in my day, we also had a beautiful magnolia tree, space to lay on campus, an amazing library, and a tunnel system that kept you warm on your way to class.

Justify your existence in 30 words or fewer: What does it mean to exist?

What was your favorite class at Columbia? My favorite class at Columbia was “Introduction to Vocal Repertoire” with Jean-Paul Bjorlin. I learned a lot in terms of vocal technique, but it was really the 10 minutes of deep breathing/stretching in the beginning, and the random life lessons/scientific facts I learned every time Jean-Paul went off on a tangent that made me look forward to class every week. I would recommend this class to anyone and everyone.

Would you rather give up oral sex or cheese? Have you ever ordered the garlic bread with goat cheese at Pisticci’s?

One thing to do before graduating: Watch the sunrise on Butler roof at least one time.

Any regrets? None at all, besides turning this senior wisdom in late (sorry about that 😔)

Photo via Fahmida Hussain