It’s that time of year again. You’re all moved in, classes aren’t killing you yet and you and your friends have made all of these plans to have the BEST YEAR EVER. Or, if you’re like me, you’re only partly unpacked, saying hi to people on campus you haven’t seen over the summer is partially awkward (read: really awkward), you have no idea what you want to accomplish this year and you only have one year left to do it (senior year is scary, guys). If that last description sounded more than a little familiar to you, read on. Without further ado, I present to you: five things to do before the end of the school year.
1. Explore the buildings.
Turns out, Barnard and Columbia have a lot of cool hallways to nowhere, and roofs are almost always accessible by window (and I’m not just talking about Mudd, Butler, Low, etc.) Get lost in Schermerhorn (it’s really easy, I promise), stumble on the old asylum tunnels under Uris pool, and manage to get people in to 600 dorm without going past the security guard (it’s really invigorating). So often we students get caught up in all of our classes and social drama that we never take time to really explore the campus that we call home for 4+ years. I’ve found a really killer library in the basement of a dorm; you might find something (much) cooler than that.
2. Get coffee with everyone you want to be friends with but haven’t yet.
College life is short, people. Carpe diem and get coffee or food with people you’ve had every class with, bumped in to at various EC parties, or shared Tom’s cheese fries with at 2am without even knowing their name (we’ve all been there). Most of the time, it will be worth it. Who knows, you might just make a new best friend.
3. Get out of the bubble.
Go to 97th street and Broadway for all I care, just get out of the Columbia bubble. Go get 4am pirogues at Veselka before watching the sunrise on the Brooklyn Bridge. The best Thai restaurant in the area is in Woodstock, Queens, and there’s a great little park by the Dyckman Street subway stop up in Inwood. Go ride a bike on Governor’s Island before it gets cold. We live in one of the coolest cities in the world–why not take advantage of that?
4. Take a class with THAT professor.
You know, the professor that everyone has told you about. Or, if you just don’t pay attention to cool professors/read campus publications ever here are a few: Foner, Thurman, Abu Lughod, Gulati, Khalidi, Kenney, Carnes, Boylan, Vandenburg, Khan. (There are so many more than that, but you’ll have to comb through CULPA on your own.)
5. Hookup in the Barnard library before it’s demolished.
Why should the Butler stacks get all the glory? Plus, the library will be gone by next year so your secret is safe.