ORIENTATION 2011: Meet the seniors

CAROLINE BLOSSER
Current blogger

Who are you?
An Ancient History major with pending and probably never-to-be-completed minors in English and religion. I’m also aloof.

Why did you join Spec?
I don’t actually remember. Which probably means I was drugged, kidnapped, and forced to join by a masked and marauding posse of sleep deprived editors and columnists.

What book should you actually read in Lit Hum?
Because I’m a Barnard student, I did not take Lit Hum. Instead I read “Moby Dick” in an ocean literature class taught by a maritime history professor who sails boats on the weekends and is missing a pinky. (You know you’re jealous.) Other than that, I’ve heard “Crime and Punishment” is good.

Favorite study spot?
The cupboard under the stairs. If that’s occupied, East Asian Starr Library is my home away from home.

Survival tip for NSOP week?
Patience, young grasshoppers. You have the next four years of your life to meet people. In the meantime, embrace the awkward, and strike up conversations with people sitting or standing alone.

A word of advice to incoming first-years?
College is too important to be taken seriously. And leggings are not pants. Or wait, did you want an actual “word of advice”? In that case, tomfoolery.

NEIL FITZPATRICK
Current blogger, former columnist and associate editorial page editor.

Who are you?
A creative writing major with a concentration in East Asian languages and cultures (which doesn’t really matter, but which you’ll spend the next few years thinking matters a whole lot).

Why did you join Spec?
I was on the paper in high school, wrote one article during orientation week my first year, and was asked by the person who edited that article to take her job at the paper. I learned two lessons that day: 1.) It’s never too early to join Spec. 2.) If anybody compliments you at Columbia they’re usually about to ask you to do more work.

What book should you actually read in Lit Hum?
Nobody reads everything, but read as much as you can. You’ll like the class a lot more if you do, and nobody ever regretted having the knowledge in those books. That said, if you have to choose one, read “Crime and Punishment.”

Favorite study spot?
My room. I never understood the appeal of studying in front of other people, but maybe that’s because I study naked.

Survival tip for NSOP week?
Don’t worry about finding people you like during NSOP week—most people won’t start acting like themselves until week three anyway. Just go out and do things. See the city. Organize people on your floor if you have to—nobody will dislike you for doing that.

A word of advice for incoming first-years?
Columbia’s not the easiest place to be a first-year, but how happy you are is largely dependent on the effort you make. Join groups that interest you, introduce yourself to everyone, and find the two or three people that you don’t feel like you have to perform for. (And if you’re someone who wants to go out, invest in a fake ID. There’s no point in further limiting your already limited social options.)
Columbia gets exponentially better every year, and four years here will probably do more to make you an adult than four years spent elsewhere.

EMILY TAMKIN
Current columnist and blogger, former editorial page editor.

Who are you?
I’m a senior in CC majoring in Russian literature and culture, former Spec editorial page editor, current columnist and blogger, lover of ’80s pop culture, and valiant defender of Ke$ha.

Why did you join Spec?
To be like Neil FitzPatrick. And because I like editing and writing. As an editor, I like helping people articulate their opinions. And as a writer, I like to trick people into reading mine.

What book should you actually read in Lit Hum?
Since you’ll read “Pride and Prejudice” and “Crime and Punishment” anyway, be sure to read “Don Quixote.” It takes a while to get into it, but once you’re in, you’re in. It’s basically the exclusive nightclub of Lit Hum books.

Favorite study spot?
There’s a level on the third floor of Butler that’s elevated above the main part of the floor. It feels like studying in a tree house, which is all I ever really wanted.

Describe the Barnard-Columbia relationship in one sentence.
It’s complicated.

A word of advice to incoming first-years?
Breathe. You’ll love it here. It just takes some time.