Reminisce and deepen friendships!

Name, School, Major, Hometown: Andrew Kelly, CC, Chemistry, Pelham, NY

Claim to fame: Either singing and dancing in every theater on campus (finally got them all!) or haunting Havemeyer at ungodly hours.

Where are you going? I’m going to do a Ph.D. in chemistry at MIT! So excited!

What are three things you learned at Columbia and would like to share with the Class of 2030?

1. Put yourself out there, no matter how hard it is! I auditioned for a show at the beginning of my freshman year, and when I didn’t get it I completely gave up, thinking “maybe theater just isn’t for me.” Only when I mustered up the courage to audition again three semesters later did I actually start performing at Columbia, and it led to me having some of the greatest experiences of my college career. So challenge yourself, and do that hard thing! I promise you won’t regret it, and it may just be the best time ever.
2. Don’t stop looking for friends! My biggest concern freshman year was forming a “friend group,” but people and relationships change. Instead of trying to fight the current, focus on deepening relationships with the people you care about while always being open to meeting new people. There are so many amazing people here, so talk to strangers and be kind to everybody!
3. Be proud of yourself. Columbia is so hard all the time, and it’s very easy to sink in the marsh of self doubt and comparison. Just being here and working every day is an achievement, and every step forward, no matter how small, will get you somewhere big. Things will be tough, but celebrating the little things will help you feel capable of handling the big things. And that little push can go a long way!

“Back in my day…” Basically no dorms had AC and now they’re building another gym? Why do they keep fixing everything after we leave? Also, obligatory “the gates were open.”

What was your favorite class at Columbia? Physical Chemistry Lecture I (shout out XYZ) or Theatre Traditions in the Global Context.

Whom would you like to thank? Massive thanks to my wonderful partner Audrey Fischer for her endless support and encouragement these past four years, along with the rest of the board games squad, all my friends, and my family for keeping me grounded when things get crazy. Thanks also go to Prof. Luis Avila and Vesna Gasperov for supporting me as a teacher and as a researcher, to Dr. Bereket Zekarias and (soon to be doctor) William Zhang for making sure I (mostly) didn’t explode, and the whole Owen Lab for encouraging me through all my failed experiments. Finally, thanks to CMTS, Varsity Show, and Latenite for accepting me with open arms, it’s been a blast!

One thing to do before graduating? Reminisce and deepen friendships! Also go out with your friends and cry about how much you all love each other!

Any regrets? I’ve made plenty of mistakes, but they all shaped me into who I am today. So at the end of the day, I wouldn’t have done anything differently.

Andrew via Andrew