THE ESSENTIAL COLUMBIA

I find it hard to narrow down Columbia to certain essential places because it's such a diverse environment. I can however tell you which places have meant the most to me in my time here.

My first year here at Columbia, I ran into a friend from high school who'd gone to a different school to study fine art. She asked me almost immediately, "do you like the people in your major?" She told me she'd grown to despise most of her peers. Truthfully, I answered her original question with "yes". In fact, I loved the Fiction Writing Department and the people in it. For this reason, when I think of Columbia, my first thought is the Fiction Department, on the 12th floor of the 624 S. Michigan building. The Fiction Department is generally a quiet place, except for the flow of students at the beginning and end of any of the four hour classes, or when a group of grad students huddle together on break. People regularly camp out on the plum couches scattered outside the faculty offices at laptops and with groups of friends. Sitting there today, it struck me just how correct the atmosphere is. In less than a half an hour, I had no less than three passing, awkward moments with people. The different departments at Columbia really do seem to feel like tribes or families at times, where people of similar personalities share common interests. The Fiction Department is a tribe of the neurotic weirdos and I love it.

Film Row Cinema is the auditorium and the surrounding area on the eighth floor of the 1104 Wabash building, probably my favorite Columbia building from an aesthetic viewpoint. I know we were asked to actually visit these places but unfortunately this was not possible with this particular space, as I learned a few semesters ago when I wrote about the 1104 building for another class. A far as I can tell, the eighth floor is not accessible by elevator unless there is an event going on there. This is a shame, since it's an amazing space and would be a great spot to study or take a lunch break. The Fiction Department's Story Week festival holds many of its readings and events there, which is how I first became acquainted with it. The auditorium itself holds a lot of good memories for me. There's no time of the year you feel more connected to the department than during Story Week, and there's something great about getting together with a bunch of other Fiction majors to talk about writing and listen to great work. Outside of the auditorium and outside of memory, the surrounding space is incredible. There is a window which stretches around three sides of the building and provides a widescreen panorama of the near city skyline and the lake.