Social

In past years, Hewitt Dining Hall has served as a vibrant and cozy space filled with natural light and much conversation among students and professors. Events such as Big Sub and Midnight Breakfast brought the student body together to celebrate and enjoy food. However, amid the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing measures in place, Barnard Dining has been forced to adapt as students returned to campus this spring.

Humiliating. That would be the one word I’d use to describe my first time lip-syncing to a TikTok sound in late 2019. With my 20th birthday creeping up, the embarrassment of watching my Dua Lipa impersonation was enough for me to set the app aside for over a year. As far as I knew, it was just a place for middle schoolers to do the Shoot dance and film slime videos. Mouthing words to an audience of no one felt too much like being 13 for me to enjoy it.

The Columbia Community Health Compact will be tested this semester as the University welcomes approximately 1,800 undergraduates to campus, nearly double its on-campus student population from the fall semester.

Just as first-years and sophomores were preparing to move to campus last summer, Columbia abruptly announced the cancellation of all semester-long housing contracts. Students and their families were forced to cancel plane tickets and hotel reservations and reconsider their plans for the semester ahead.

After an unauthorized trip to Turks and Caicos, 70 students from the Business School have been barred from entering any campus facilities until Dec. 1.

I stood in front of the mirror analyzing whether or not my mom jeans and crop top gave off friendly, cool-yet-chill vibes. My roommates didn’t want to go to the fifth meet-up organized through the “Transfers in the City” GroupMe, so I plucked up the courage to ask my neighbor upstairs if she wanted to come with me. The week prior, I had flown to New York from Michigan in my hazmat suit that I bought from Amazon for $20. Now, I was in a hot, sticky apartment just off of Broadway and La Salle, eager to make new connections.

With his baritone saxophone still in New York, Riley Swain, CC ’21, started to learn guitar during quarantine. Playing guitar allowed him to experiment musically, and in a loud household of five, it was a quieter alternative to the alto saxophone he had at home. Still, stuck inside without any opportunities to get onstage, the part-time jazz musician found it difficult to feel creative.

I was sitting in my bedroom in Recife, Brazil, when the video of Columbia’s campus announcing I had gotten in opened on my computer screen. As I jumped up and down and stared incredulously at the image of Alma Mater, I still couldn’t believe it. In just a few months, I would be in New York, meeting people from all over the world and living the college experience I had dreamed of for years.  

Social media has always been one of those things I’m unable to use consistently. While this may be obvious from my sparse Instagram posts, it is no secret to those who know me that I prefer the familiar intimacy of physical interactions, such as in the parking lot of a local coffee house or after school in my favorite classroom.

Outside of Costas Ieromonahos’ iconic Tom’s Restaurant in Morningside Heights, all but two of the tables he had set up on the sidewalk for the lunchtime rush stand are empty. A few pedestrians make their way down Broadway in the July heat, ensuring there is a 6-foot bubble of space between them and passersby. Those who venture outside are met with the discordant sound of tires cruising across the pavement.