Maria Castillo

Dear class of 2023: Live a wide existence.

As the daughter of a lifelong educator, stereotypes about the public school system never rang true to me because I grew up with a first hand perspective of the elaborate inner machinery that kept the system running—all through my mom’s daily life as a high school counselor. She transformed my rudimentary understanding of the public education system—which is, of course, not a monolithic one—into a consciousness of the complex realities, tragedies, and triumphs that many public school students and educators face across state lines. Most importantly, she taught me to never expect less from a public school student.

It is surprisingly easy to take on unreasonable burdens here. New responsibilities are never in short supply; with so many opportunities, we end up feeling compelled to join and contribute to every academic, activist, political, and professional club that reflects our passions and interests. Some of these responsibilities can simply keep us connected to hobbies we’ve maintained since childhood, while others can represent a commitment to something much larger than ourselves.

After a Holder Initiative event entitled “One Person, One Vote in the U.S. Today” last spring, I distinctly remember being fascinated by the detached way people spoke about the voter disenfranchisement as if it were an abstract, intangible object—undoubtedly horrifying, but far away at the same time.

A month before my first year at Columbia began, I remember reading the infamous leaked Google Memo that argued against the company’s efforts to prioritize equitable gender representation among its employees. The memo justified the underrepresentation of women in tech, citing dubious biological differences such as neuroticism and anxiety as deterrents for equal representation in the workplace. It even discounted discrimination as the main reason behind the gender pay gap and the underrepresentation of women in leadership positions.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez visited Columbia last week, and there is a whole host of things to say about the ideological, cultural, and political implications of her visit. I was definitely not surprised by the storm of mixed reviews surrounding the event, given recent debacles like her ban on media presence in community meetings and her beef with Ben Shapiro. I’m not here to defend her shaky economic policy positions or her media faux pas; I am here to remind people of how her win directly counters the countless years that minorities have been without a voice. Sometimes we tend to forget how rare those opportunities to counter that history are.

On the last day of finals this past May, exhausted from all-nighters and seemingly never-ending review sessions, I forced myself to wake up early so I would be able to say bye to one of my good friends whom I knew I would not see all summer. I wasn’t headed to Wallach or John Jay—I was headed to Ferris.

Victoria Hou is a sophomore in Columbia College attempting to study political science and economics (like every other student at this school). Her claim to fame includes a few posts that reached over 1,000 likes on columbia buy sell memes and her being the reason why the class of 2021 got T-shirts at the New Student Orientation Program. To all sophomores: You’re welcome. H Mart keeps her sane, but trips down to Koreatown and Chinatown keep her happy. You can find her pretending to study in Ref, likely on Facebook and ranting about Asian American issues. You can also send questions, secret admirer notes, and hate mail at vh2279@columbia.edu. Chop Suey runs alternate Mondays.