Small girl in a big sculpture

Today’s first senior wisdom is from Shosh L, former CU Dems president, who has some thoughts on civic duty and the 72nd Street Trader Joe’s.

Name, School, Major, Hometown: SL ~The Barn~ @Sociology *NewYawkCity*

Claim to fame: being dems president. being the person who thinks she’s too cool/old to live on campus (and so she doesn’t but really isn’t).

Where are you going? Dr. Lauter has a nice ring to it so…medical school? is this a terrible idea? am i crazy? anyone wanna try and talk me out of this one?

What are 3 things you learned at Columbia and would like to share with the Class of 2022?

1. This campus of ours isn’t always the brightest, especially in the doldrums of winter. smiling and being kind and warm to people is an amazingly powerful thing—both in college, and in this pretty messed up world we’re living in. the more positive and open energy you put out, the more you will receive in return.

2. Don’t get caught up in what’s considered cool if it’s not who you are or what you like. you should always be open to change and new things! there’s so much on this campus to take hold of and try! but i spent too much time at the beginning of college trying to be and do things that, frankly, i didn’t actually give a fuck about. figure out what excites you and makes you happy, then run with it– the people closest to you will love you more for it.

3. Imbibe this lesson from the synagogue of Phish and make it your mantra: Your hands and feet are mangoes. You’re gonna be a genius anyway.

“Back in my day…” Barnard had a real campus and a real tree and an actually quiet library. 1020 wasn’t considered as cool as it is now. Ollie’s hadn’t burned down. Amigos still existed, and stood as a bastion of my three favorite things: margaritas, avocados, and progressivism.

Justify your existence in 30 words or fewer: I enjoy activities that promote a sense of camaraderie and civic responsibility, like jury duty and the line outside trader joe’s on 72nd street. Also, croquet.

What was your favorite class at Columbia? Sociology of the Body with Elizabeth Bernstein— if you want to have your mind blown. Buddhism and Neuroscience with Bernard Faure– also if you want to have your mind blown (by the fact that you’ll have no idea whats going on). American History 1940-1975 with Mark Carnes– if you want some historical context as to why the state of our society is currently in the shitter. He’s the best.

Would you rather give up oral sex or cheese? nothing too witty to say on this one. i’d give up cheese.

Whom would you like to thank? moms and pops, the sibz, the boyf, the besties (who know who they are when i say “you know who you are”), the dems family that i feel very lucky to have gotten weird/raged/cried with (e.g. when elections lasted 4.5 hours this semester).

One thing to do before graduating: find my graduation cap tassel. already lost it taking trendy pics with maddie molot (who else).

Any regrets? never being able to fit half the classes i wanted to in my schedule, never finding time to do an extracurricular super out of my comfort zone, never joining the clay collective because that shit looks FUN and RELAXING.

Editor’s note made on July 8, 2024: This post has been edited to protect the anonymity of an individual.

Photo via Bwog Archives