One day last fall, Jeff walked into Lerner Hall and turned left into Café East, heading past the security desk on the bottom floor, past the neon blue “We Are Columbia” sign, and past the small white tables populated by packs of Columbia and Barnard students. He was here to meet his tutor, and though Columbia’s Morningside campus is contained by just 10 or so city blocks, Jeff had come a long way from home. ..

I’m sitting on the couch in the living room next to my older sister. We just met. Her name is Anna. We study each other’s fingers, which are skinny and long, with rounded tops. After a pause, we ask each other about food allergies and lactose intolerance. We’ll ask each other about shared feelings, but that’s later. She asks me if I like purses. She tells me that she has a collection. I’m not much of a purse person. She’s not into wide-leg pants. ..

Sitting at a rickety white table in Joe with her white earbuds in and her red hair falling over her face as she pores over a neatly organized but well-used notebook, Silvie Schlein looks like any other Barnard student. But Silvie wouldn’t spend her day migrating through campus attending classes, racing to club meetings, and tackling piles of homework in Butler Library. Instead, after attending Introduction to African History in the Diana Center, Silvie leaves the boundaries of Morningside Heights and heads to her home downtown. There, she resumes her day-to-day as a homeschooled high school senior: studying for AP exams, taking online classes, and writing college applications. ..

While the typical undergraduate can only grasp the Cold War era through textbooks, Rose Gibbs, who graduated from the School of General Studies last spring, has been to the Soviet satellite state of East Germany herself. It was there, almost 40 years ago, that she paid $3 for a full seven-course, soup-to-nuts Russian meal. ..

Dear readers,

It’s early June, and the clocks are striking 13. These past two weeks have been blissful, dusky, and honey-soaked. Saccharine, whatever that means. And I reckon I’ve got about three more days before the panic truly sets in. You see, I don’t have gainful employment lined up for this summer. Cue much wailing and gnashing of teeth...