Hi Mom!

Name, School, Major, Hometown: Ence, Columbia College, Philosophy/Stats, Austin, Texas

Claim to fame: Editor-in-Chief of Spec, cowboy boot wearer, attended Columbia sports games before it was cool.

Where are you going?
Journalism in the swamp! I’m headed down to D.C., doing all things data for the Washington Post.

What are 3 things you learned at Columbia and would like to share with the Class of 2027?

1. Everyone says ‘join clubs.’ I’ll echo that, with a twist. I was overwhelmed when I got here by how many clubs there were to join! It’s tempting to try to do everything, but that leads quickly to overextension, flaking, and burnout. Instead, consider what you’re passionate about, seek out those communities, and take the risk of committing to them. Build up relationships and trust a community with your time and energy and care. You might just leave a mark.
2. Dare to explore—and join, and love—communities outside of campus. It can be easy to get caught in the Columbia bubble, exiting it only sporadically and only with college buddies. But this city has so many vibrant communities built around shared identities and experiences, from rec sports leagues to faith communities to volunteer networks. Participating in them lets you connect more deeply to the place you live and the people you share it with, and to build the intergenerational bonds that are harder to find on campus. (As a bonus, almost none of these groups require applications, a good counter to the brainworms Columbia can induce. Just show up!)
3. You can never be too busy to get up early, get egg bagels with strawberry cream cheese and coffee from Absolute with your friends, and sit on the steps watching campus come to life. Do it as often as possible.

“Back in my day…” JJ’s was open till 10 am, Ferris stocked cartons of non-dairy milk for the taking, and it snowed.

Favorite Columbia controversy?
When Koronet’s got shut down by the health department and it did nothing but increase the desire of the Columbia student body for Koronet’s. Also, when Bwog stopped making the #FuckSpec stickers. (Bring them back! Spec misses them!)

What was your favorite class at Columbia?
Philosophy of Protest, with Prof. Michele Moody-Adams. Transformed the way I think about philosophy, protest, and journalistic ethics, and the way I approached dissent, protest, and disobedience as a journalist and a human person. Just the coolest seminar imaginable.

Paradise Lost, with Prof. Julie Crawford. I had absolutely no business taking this class and I am so glad I did. The ability to sign up for random courses—to learn about things like 17th-century epic poems with incredible instructors like Prof. Crawford—is maybe the aspect of college I will miss the most.

Applied Statistical Computing, with Prof. Wayne Lee. Before I took this class I did not know how to code in R, and now I know how to code in R. This has improved my life immeasurably. No joke.

Would you rather give up oral sex or cheese?
Hi Mom!

Whom would you like to thank?

My family! (Hi again, Mom!)

Everyone at Spec, especially Lizzie, who taught me what it means to be a leader; SpecSports, united by pondering how many fingers Columbia’s squash coach has; Senem, the best person to sit in Hungarian with; Zach, who adopted me as a news twink; Irie, for assorted feats of superhuman journalism and U-Haul shenanigans; everyone I @channeled in the Spec slack; everyone on MB146 and MB147. Thanks especially to Dia for being the most iconic of all MEs, to Vilanna for running a perfect budget and being the life of the party, and for every hour we put in last year as partners in crime.

Friends! Amity Hall. Love you guys. Thanks for your discrete avoidance of the suite during MB Champagne II, when people definitely did not dance on the table or spray champagne on the walls, and for being the best friends anyone could ask for. Special shoutout to Katherine, who has been the world’s best roommate for the past three years. Love to the COÖP crew (once you’ve pooped in the woods together anything is possible), the Chautauqua crew (still always
the first people my grandparents ask about), and Amber (we survived pandemic brainworms; we can thrive in the swamp).

My professors, in apology for all the times I edited breaking news in class, and in gratitude for the gift of learning with and from Aristotle, Saidiya Hartman, John Milton, Paolo Freire, Toni Morrison, Aquinas, Al-Ghazali, Paul, and RStudio.

My thesis advisor, for helping me write a philosophy thesis that cited just two works of philosophy.

Iggie’s.

One thing to do before graduating:
Participate in a friendly yet all-consuming prank war.

Any regrets?
Not taking a language! I was so excited to exempt the requirement as a freshman, and I wish I hadn’t.

Ence via Ence