They might be gone now, but the JJ’s mac and cheese triangles still have a special place in Ramisa’s heart.

Name, School, Major, Hometown: Ramisa Murshed, Barnard College, Computer Science, Lilburn, GA

Claim to fame: Having a pissing light fixture, throwing up in a plastic cup, having the same WBAR show for 7 semesters, cosplaying as anything but a CS major, and writing a love letter to the JJ’s mac and cheese triangles.

Where are you going? To Waffle House. And then grad school.

What are three things you learned at Columbia and would like to share with the Class of 2025?

1. Never sacrifice sleep for school. Your own physical health is way more important than any grade you might get. You’re going to forget about that assignment that’s worth 2% of your grade in one class, but not taking care of yourself is going to really hurt you in the long run.
2. Do things you like. Don’t think you have to follow a certain path just because other people are doing it too. Don’t feel like you have to “keep up” with everyone, either. Everyone moves at their own pace, and everything will fall into place in the end.
3. Be a Barnard Babysitter if you can. You make so much money (usually in cash/Venmo) by babysitting for rich families on the UWS and doing the bare minimum. Sometimes you don’t even have to do anything because the kids are asleep.

“Back in my day…” You had to pay for laundry at Barnard, Milstein was nothing more than a tunnel, Diana only took points for lunch, only the top floors of Carman were renovated, the Columbia sad boys Instagram account, Fake Barnard Buy Sell was a thing, we had Columbia Crushes and not Columbia Confessions, Barnard Dining used Aramark and not Chartwells, and I could drink everyone at the booth’s leftovers at 1020 without having to worry about COVID.

Favorite Columbia controversy? I know this happened like 2 days ago, but the PrezBo cardboard cutout getting stolen.

What was your favorite class at Columbia? Intro to Language & Culture with Mara Green, Data Structures with Paul Blaer, Sonic Modernity in East Asia with Hye Eun Choi, UI Design with Lydia Chilton

Would you rather give up oral sex or cheese? I think you know my answer just by looking at the webpage I made for 1004.

Whom would you like to thank? My mom, for being so relentless in wanting me to be a doctor even though I dropped pre-med in the middle of my sophomore year; my dad, for writing text messages to me as if they were emails; my brother, for buying K-BBQ for me once; Ana, Maggie, Tim, Yuki, and David, for teaching me that soup is just wet salad; Ruby, Jenny, and Xabi, for suffering through AP and CS Theory with me; 121 2E for experiencing with me the pissing light fixture, mice, cockroaches, and whatever gross thing might show up in our suite next; HHH, for making me use the word “poggers” unironically; the WBAR WBoard, for sitting through 50 playlists that have a Mitski song on them when reading DJ applications (love all of you wonderful DJs too); Gracie, Sam, Camille, Zarah, Tessa, Jenni, Angad, Qing, and Palmer, for being the only people from Parkview who still like me; Bwog, for helping me realize that I’m not as funny as I think I am; the Columbia Korean department, for being literally the best and always having snacks at Korean Chat Club; the Barnard CS Help Room, for teaching me that I actually know how to code well enough to tutor people; Barnard Admissions, for letting me have one of the most fulfilling jobs I’ve ever worked; Lydia Chilton, for convincing me to go to grad school a month before applications were due; and all of the other friends I’ve made and people whose paths mine intersected with during the past four years.

One thing to do before graduating: Go to the observatory in Pupin (I also don’t even know if it’s open right now).

Any regrets? Not stealing the PrezBo cardboard cutout myself.

Image via Ramisa