Enjoy the view

Welcome to Columbia, or welcome back. Whether you’re a first-year, a transfer, or a senior, you’re now settling in to your first week of classes after what we hope was a productive, or at least rejuvenating, summer.

This first week is always a bit chaotic, with students rushing about campus, adjusting their schedules, and trying to remember how to study. Professors are trying (or not really trying) to learn who you are, you’re trying to find classrooms in maze-like buildings, and purveyors of textbooks are trying to take your money, hand over fist.

Amid all this mayhem, it’s easy to forget how fortunate you are to be at Columbia. Attending this University is no one’s birthright. It’s a privilege and a blessing. It doesn’t make you better than anyone else, but it does make you luckier than most.

Columbia is not a perfect institution. It’s big and bureaucratic, it doesn’t offer the archetypal “college experience,” and people here like to complain a lot. This page, admittedly, often focuses on the University’s shortcomings.

But while we are constantly looking for areas in which Columbia can improve—and we believe that you should, too—we also recognize the tremendous opportunities this school, this neighborhood, and this city have to offer.

Whether you’re just getting here or are leaving soon, remember the rarity of the experience you have at your fingertips. Join a club or try a new one. Look for a class that excites and challenges you intellectually—even if it’s outside your major and you’re not guaranteed to get an A. Have lunch with that kid you’ve always liked but never sat down and talked to. Or, if you know no one, have lunch with someone who also knows no one.

Wander through the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and Riverside Church, pay a visit to Grant’s Tomb, and explore the nearby parks. Get Indian food in Jackson Heights, do karaoke in Koreatown, or visit City Island. Go to see a speaker, organize an event, or try out a performance group. And take some time out to sit on Low Steps and enjoy the balmy weather and the grandeur of the Beaux Arts edifices surrounding you.

Former University President Nicholas Murray Butler, the academic empire builder who forged much of the Columbia we know, fancied this University the acropolis of America. Considering what a pompous windbag Butler was, perhaps he overstated himself. But Columbia is a remarkable institution.

As you approach the semester ahead, try to keep that thought in the back of your mind. Don’t let your time left here—whether that’s four years or nine months—pass by without looking around you.