If only Spec op-eds WERE but a bad dream…

Name, School, Major, Hometown:
Harrison Gale, Barnard College, English and Film Studies, Glen Rock, NJ/Guaynabo, PR

Claim to fame:
Queen of Juggling a Lot of Projects at the Same Time and accidentally writing three (3) theses in one year

Where are you going?
Off to an MSt in film aesthetics at the University of Oxford (hopefully not via Zoom)……and uh, I dunno, a soul-crippling job market? At this point, I’d just be happy to be allowed outside again.

What are 3 things you learned at Columbia and would like to share with the Class of 2024?

1. Don’t let yourself become paralyzed by impostor syndrome or by comparing yourself to others – everyone has their own journey, and you don’t know what privileges people have that you can’t see at first glance.
2. Before you judge people, give them the benefit of the doubt. Everyone has their own side to the story, and learning how to pick your battles will preserve your emotional energy and make you more empathetic.
3. Spend time with the people who show you that they care about you through their actions, not their words. When push comes to shove, they are the ones who will come through for you – and be sure to return the favor.
4. Bonus: Always punch up. It’s not fun or productive or edgy or cool to kick someone while they’re down.

“Back in my day…”
The Milstein Center was still only a pile of unconstructed steel beams, the underground tunnels at Barnard were closed, Scabby the Inflatable Rat was at the peak of his fame, and you had to beg Columbia students for a swipe into JJ’s. Also, you went to classes in person instead of through your computer.

Favorite Columbia controversy?
I thought I had just dreamt that someone wrote a Spec op-ed arguing that their friends should pay them for having basic human empathy, but alas, that really happened. (Bonus for fave Columbia controversy that was way before my time: when a first-year got busted in the 80s for breaking into Pupin through the underground tunnels and stole Uranium-235 and hid it in his room, and that’s why the tunnel to Pupin was sealed off.)

What was your favorite class at Columbia?
Making me pick is so unfair!! But some of my favorites have been Cult and Exploitation Film with Rob King, Lab in Screenwriting with Charlotte Benbeniste, Film Actor’s Art with Edward Turk (and many more!!). Also, Postmodernism with Margaret Vandenburg literally changed the way I look at the world.

Would you rather give up oral sex or cheese?
Oral sex. If the good Lord didn’t want me to enjoy all of the carnal pleasures of cheese, why aren’t I lactose intolerant? Huh? Checkmate, atheists.

Whom would you like to thank?
Third Wheel Improv for teaching me to trust my gut (and do some “dumb ass shit”); Chowdah Sketch Comedy for putting up with (and even encouraging!) my niche nonsense; DKA for enabling my film obsession with people who love it as much as I do; India, Lauren, Tom, and Julia, for helping me survive Veesh and beyond; Jeremy and Alex, my beloved Hella Mega Boys and WBAR family; my academic advisors (Timea Szell, Ross Hamilton, and Peter Platt) and my thesis advisors (Annette Insdorf, Rachel Eisendrath, and Achsah Guibbory) for guiding me through the most ridiculous spring semester of all time; my family, especially my beautiful and superhuman mom Yvette, for being my inexhaustible cheerleader and advocate; and the innumerable people who continue to lift me up.

One thing to do before graduating:
Pick up all the stuff I left behind in my dorm when I had to suddenly leave because of Coronavirus :’( (Actually it’s to thank everyone at Barnard who helped me make it to the finish line – a little thank-you note goes a long way!)

Any regrets?
Not taking Shakespeare with Rachel Eisendrath. Not spending more time with my friends and seeing the city – it’s a gift to go to school in (*Gotti voice*) Da Greatest City in Da World and a shame to squander it in favor of half-readings and whatever the hell else you thought was important then but really isn’t in the long run. But most importantly, never getting to have a vodka martini at 1020 because they refuse to make them.

photo via Harrison Gale