#cc student

What's been your most gratifying moment at Columbia?

I think we are a very eclectic crew. So one of the most gratifying moments is just one of those weekends or nights out where you hit a lot of different circles, a lot of different scenes. And so one group might be talking about Judaism, the next group, with a totally different group of people might be talking about Classics, the next group might be talking about biomedical ethics. And it's just, totally, totally different groups, different people, different opinions and I think that keeps you on your toes. I've been fortunate because I've had several of those nights. It's really gratifying that I can hit so many different scenes and have a range of experiences all within one night, from a really quiet, I guess intimate gathering, to the loud party that I don't know anyone at. And I think that we're so lucky that we can have this diversity of choice. 

What's something you are looking forward to?

I'm looking forward to the next journey of life. Which sounds so cliché, and I want to take that back. But I'm excited to get to just - I'm very uncertain about what's going to happen next year, and I'm really excited to see what's actually gonna happen.

What do you think the title of your memoir would be?

Mistakes Were Made. It would be like, experiences were had, mistakes were made, but good times. Or something like that.

If you were leaving to start a new civilization, which three books would you take with you?

What's been your most gratifying moment at Columbia?

Give me a moment. This is tough. There haven't been too many real "aha" moments for me. So I mean, it's been fairly constant. Getting a job was great, getting an internship. That was pretty sweet. Just a lot of hard work over a long period of time that really paid off. Like, you put in hard work for classes and stuff but, this really meant a lot, you know. And to have it pay off is just, it's a really good feeling. And I know it's something that a lot of people experience but at the same time like, that doesn't make your own personal experience any less meaningful. 

If you could remove one thing from your life right now, what would it be?

Housing stress. Housing stress. Housing stress. I'm like, not worried about a lot of things. Housing is the one thing I actually am concerned about.

What would be your weapon of choice in a zombie apocalypse?

Oh wow. Are these questions geared towards me? Hm. Weapon of choice... Sniper Rifle. 

What do you miss the most about home?

What's been your most gratifying moment at Columbia?

There was...there was like a period of time, two weeks in this semester, that me and my best friend were just having a really really rough time. And there was, we just had these emotional ups and downs, and the thing was that there was so much happening in these two weeks, but I didn't realize it was two weeks that had gone by until he said, "you know it's been like two week since this stuff started happening." And I just kind of got numb, but not in a scary way. He was a little scared, but it was more like, life is rich. Life is really rich. And like, we try to act like its not. I spend a lot of time qualifying my feelings you know, and justifying the way I engage with things. But to have this moment to feel like I got lost in this rich, deep, deep, rich sorrow, and that was just fourteen days of my life. That was really, really satisfying in a really bizarre way. And that was here, in my room in EC that that happened. So those moments, when you think you're so self-aware, and you realize you're just very very aware of your asshole. Of that small, smelly area. And you're like oh, there's a whole butt here. 

What crime do you think you're most likely to be imprisoned for?

Jeez, public urination. 100%. Yeah no, I'm flattered. I haven't been caught, that's the difference...The crime has been committed though.

What's your greatest prejudice?

Ah, I have to think about this. I've never really thought about this... I think I'm a little too quick to judge like, people with quote-unquote resting bitch face. Cause I get a little anxious like aw shit, they're mad at me, and I feel bad. So like, a lot of my good friends have it, and I just would not have talked to them because I just would've been really scared. It impacts the beginning, once I get past it, I just have to get past that, I have to get over that, that's something I have to work on myself. 

What would be a nice surprise right now?

What's been your most gratifying at Columbia?

My most gratifying moment at Columbia was academic. I mean, there, it's funny, I've had so many large, "what's been your (fill in the blank) moment at Columbia?" where the answer would be like, Non-Sequitur, or the answer would be some anecdote about going to Koronet's at 3 in the morning or whatever you know, like there are those questions. But I think that the most gratifying answer was something that I came to Columbia to do, which had to do with my writing. I got to a point in one of my workshops where I wrote a piece in a nonfiction class, that was incredibly personal, that, I've never really done that before. I've always had a bad habit of looking at some of my workshop pieces as assignments when that's completely losing the perspective of why I'm there to do that in the first place. But I wrote this piece about parts of my family, and my most gratifying moment was coming in the day of the workshop and hearing people respond to my piece, and hearing people say back to me the things that I was really trying to get across in the piece. And they just kind of said it back and I was like, "oh my god, I can't believe that that actually really came across." It so satisfying, it was such a satisfying moment, where I felt like, wow you know maybe I'm not finding my voice as a writer yet, like that's just always gonna change, but at least I know that I have a grasp on what I'm doing. And it was really, not only were people responding in a way that they were like, "oh yeah, you were saying this that and the other thing," and you know I really you know responded to that. But they also really liked it, which was something that, I don't know I kind of went out on a limb to kinda do this piece, and I just kind of wrote it and didn't really look back, and I sent it to the class. And to hear that kind of response was so, so gratifying. Like that's the word I would use to some up that experience. It was just amazing, and it was a really nice motivation for the workshops I'll have in the future and beyond workshops. 

What would be a good surprise right now?

Um, a good surprise. I want to be more eloquent! A good surprise right now would be... Um. I'm waiting on some news about stuff regarding summer in New York and I know some of the logistics, those have been worked out, but I'm looking forward to being there this summer, and I'd love to hear something like, "surprise, you are actually also going to be paid!" That would be really nice. Or I don't know, a surprise about, I don't know, I always think it's really awesome when you're looking forward to something, and then something to do with that happens that makes it even more exciting. Like, oh, you're going to be in this place over the summer? Wow, there's also this really amazing concert that's going to happen, or something like that. Yeah I was in New York last summer, it was kind of on my bucket list of things to do and just happened to be that one of my favorite people - Lianne La Havas - she was playing over the summer for free, and I wept. I physically wept through the entire show. It was just a transcendent experience. She's flawless, she's so flawless. I mean, so far over the past few weeks there have been some nice surprises that have come up in terms of just where things are going to land in the next few weeks or next few months and it's been really amazing to kind of see how things have been playing out, so just kind of hoping that the trend continues. 

Who is your hero?

Technically Batman. But if I had to choose maybe a person, I don't know I always go to two, I always default to two, who were my high school teachers. And they're not heroes in the traditional sense of doing something amazing and, you know, overcoming some immense obstacle. But there were these two teachers in my high school that were married, and they both taught different english classes, and if you were on a certain track you would have one of them, and then by senior year you would also have the other one. And they, just their ability to change how I have thought about myself and the world and literature and just thinking in general is amazing to me. That in itself is a massive feat, and I always think about them. You know it's that sort of thing where it's like, oh people name their child's middle name after their heroes, and I always want to name my kid after their last name, just because I had both of them, and for them both to be so incredible was unreal. So I, I kind of, I mean obviously my family, I think of all of them as heroes in different ways, but, um, personally I just, I think there's something to be said for the fact that they just always pop up whenever I think about this question. 

What gets you out of bed in the morning?

Well I mean that reason, the explanation for that has changed since I've been here. There's a, there was a period of time for the first month where getting out of bed in the morning wasn't necessarily a really large struggle, but I felt so out of my comfort zone that the motivation to get up and get doing things on my own was lacking, in a way. But as the weeks have gone by I've really realized how wrong of a perspective that is, and so what gets me out of bed in the morning is the fact that I have so much at my disposal, right now in Paris, to explore and to see and to do, that I feel if I don't get out of bed in the morning for that reason alone then I'm not taking full advantage of what's going on here. Cause there's so much at any given point, and the more that I go out around here, the more that I see it and the more things I write down to revisit later and it's, I mean it's a whole bright brand new environment of things to get lost in. 

What's been your most gratifying moment at Columbia?

Does before Columbia count? But when I got into Columbia? I'd probably say getting in was the most gratifying. That sounds a bit cynical but, yeah, no. It was just because I guess when you're working towards something you don't really think about what it's gonna be like. But it's just that feeling of achievement and knowing that I guess you don't really, I guess getting there is a challenge in itself, because you have to deal with expectations and all of the different things, and there are a lot of challenges in college. But for that one moment when you do get in, you know that everything you've worked towards in an instant is suddenly fulfilled. And I think that that's a very, that's a hard feeling to come across in life, without any expectations playing on it, without any other fears or any other ambitions. Just in itself, just accomplishing something entirely so, yeah. 

What crime are you most likely to imprisoned for?

Huh. What crime am I most likely to be imprisoned for... Probably say vandalism. Breaking something, like in a fit of rage. Like today, the vending machine at Reid Hall stole my money twice today, I was seriously considering smashing the thing from it. I think it depends on how sober I've been. 

If you could say anything to your family right now, what would you say?

Uh, I don't know. I love you guys? What... I don't know what else to say. No, we Skype so really it's not that hypothetical a situation.

What was your biggest heartbreak?

What's been your most gratifying moment at Columbia?

I guess it would be... I think it was sometime around the end of first semester sophomore year. Because I really had a lot of mixed opinions about how I felt about coming to Columbia, I wasn't sure if it was the right place for me. I think that semester sophomore year I found the people I really wanted to spend basically all of my time with. And I felt like that's really what makes the experience. The academics is great as well, and I get so immersed in them, I feel like it's such a gratifying experience to be able to be a part of that. But I just feel like the really great friends I know, I can say with certainty that I'll know them forever. I don't know if that's too cheesy to say. And they're some of the first people I met, too. 

What would be the title of your memoir?

Oh god. Title of my memoir. Hm...this is hard sorry, I just have to think about this for a sec. The Indecisive Existentialist. That would be the title of my memoir. I think the pauses give a hearty response.

What's the most embarrassing thing you've ever done?

In my entire life? Honestly the only thing - I'm sure I've had far more embarrassing moments in my life - but the one thing that really resonates with me or that I can just think of very clearly. In first grade, I'm sure you know this, in New York City public schools they have those huge windows, and you have to open them with these really long poles. There's a hook at the top of the pole and you have to click it on right. And in first grade I was like, such a teacher's pet, as I've been like my entire life. And I'm a scrawny-ass little child, and my teacher asks me to take the big-ass pole and open the top window. And I lose control of the pole, you know how big it is, it's like five times my size. I like, knock it all around the classroom, thankfully no one was hurt. But I knock down the American flag that was hanging in our room. And after it fell down, all the kids just made fun of me for being unpatriotic which was really funny because I'm not American. And they knew that too, they knew my whole like, I don't identify really as an American kind of. So it was just something, it's just like the first thing that I always think of, I don't know why. It's probably because I have so many identity crises like all the time. Even when I'm here I don't really know what to tell people when like, they ask me where I'm from. It's funny, even yesterday I went to a franglais event, you know the french speed dating kinda thing, 7 minutes in english and 7 minutes in french. And when I started speaking and I told them I was from Canada they were like, "yeah I can actually hear the Canadian in your accent," and I was like "really??" but it was multiple people who told me that, so it was like, I don't know. Well that's one embarrassing story, one of many. 

Where do you see yourself in five years?

What's been your most gratifying moment at Columbia?

The thing is that I don't really feel that way at Columbia. I feel like there's many moments where I realize, the moments when I - this is kind of, going to get kind of dark - I feel like the moments when I realize that I belong at Columbia are kind of moments when I realize there are characteristics of myself that I dislike. Because there are certain things that I realize when I, if I were ever to complain about Columbia or critique Columbia, like the competitiveness, the pressure type of thing, I realize me, myself, I am that, and I'm attracted to that, hence the reason why I belong at Columbia. And so yeah, I guess that... But I think that most gratifying, like the experience I look the most fondly at is my performance at Sharp and performance of Hair The Musical. And because in both cases they were really well received, and I thought that a lot of people decided to take time out of their schedules to come and see something and support something, and they actually enjoyed it, and had a great time doing it. Not only that, but also the people involved decided to take time out of their schedules to do it, which is really interesting, because I had never come to the arts where people are thinking about taking time out of their schedules. Usually when they come to it, "like this what my schedule is." So thinking of it that way, I was appreciative of the fact that people can, people have to choose their time, and chose to spend their time involved in the arts and making good art, or entertaining art at least. So, yeah, I guess that's it.  

Describe your generation in one word?

My generation right now, or what I think they're going to be? Ambitious. I tried to put them together, I think it's a generation that's ambitious, in terms of making, looking towards the past and not trying to recreate the same issues. But I think that ambitious kind of also implies that they lack a sense of reality, so lack a sense of the fact that we are a product of what has come from the past. 

What is your secret talent?

I don't have a secret talent. No, I do not have any secret talents because I like to make my talents well known. But I think if I have a talent, I would say Arts, but people would know that. My talent would be more like, talking to people and listening to friends, I think I'm a very good listener for friends.

What does home mean for you?

What's been your most gratifying moment at Columbia?

If I had gotten to poke PrezBo, it would've been that. Can we pretend that happened? Not that day I poked PrezBo, that was fun but...My most gratifying moment at Columbia was...At the end of my first semester freshman year I wrote, I was writing a paper for ArtHum, and I wrote about the High Line. And it was the middle of reading week, and I like, went to the High Line and just sat on the HIgh Line all day, and wrote my paper in a day. I'd been kinda stressed out about getting it done, so it was a really nice sort of break in the middle of exam week because I was, I don't know, I felt like I was in New York and then also doing my thing and got it done and everything went well, and it was my first exam period in Columbia so it was nice to have a positive experience and get ice cream at the end of the High Line in December.

What would be your weapon of choice in a zombie apocalypse? 

Do zombies have a weakness? This is hard. I just, hm. Wait, let me think. I just keep seeing the umbrella and trying to figure out how it would work. No but like okay, I'm gonna go umbrella, cause you can stab. Just a pointy one, but the long kind, not the kind that folds up. The Mary Poppins kind. Mary Poppins umbrella, we have a winner! Cause it's also used as a shield, cause I feel like zombies have gross stuff.

If you could switch lives with one person for a day, who would it be?

Ooooh. Uh, who's a total badass? It would be a woman, for sure. Hm. Let me think. This is...I want...I need...It's a good question. This is definitely gonna take 11 minutes. It's for one day? Do they get to be me? I'm stalling, stop stalling. Cause like one day, that's...choose wisely Gabe. Now I'm excited I want this to actually happen. I still haven't picked someone. Only one shot at this. Do you want to switch? No? Good, I don't want you to be me [thanks for that Gabe]. Um, okay, wait no, I'm actually trying to think. Marie Curie? That would be cool. She's the one, yeah. Hm. She died of radiation poisoning. Oh, the pilot, Amelia Earhart! But I feel like she, what would be the best day? Amelia Earhart, the day she disappeared. Or the day after, actually you know the day after if it was a cool day. What's-his-name is cool too, Saint Exupéry, cause they've been trying to find him.

What's one thing you have that others don't?