Graduate Student Remarks by Keenan Bashour
Thank you, Dean Kachani. And I would also like to extend my thanks to the faculty and staff here at SEAS that have made our time at Columbia so meaningful. To the class of 2013, congratulations. We’re all here to celebrate. Hopefully with a bit more decorum than the last time we graduated. After all, we have matured in many ways. For one, joining SEAS was a decision that all of us have made, though we look to accomplish different things afterwards.
Some of us have had our minds set on entering academia and are now able to further immerse ourselves in the academic community. Others entered graduate school with the intention of honing their skills and are now ready to apply these skills towards industry. And there are probably more than a few of us here who, after seeing the market tank five years ago, decided that hiding out in graduate school while the economy recovered wasn’t such a bad idea.
Regardless of your reasons for coming, we all have learned—we have learned new material and have developed a more extensive network of friends. We’ve made new discoveries, published in reputed journals, maybe even filed a patent or two. But I would like to take a moment to reflect on the nature of the Columbia community and what it means to me to be one of its members. We’re located in New York. It’s a city which, according to many, does not have a reputation for being friendly. Last year, for example, New York was voted by the Huffington Post, which is based here in NY, as the rudest, dirtiest, and loudest city in the United States. And there are dozens of other newspapers, blogs, and magazines that said the exact same thing. But that’s an analysis that I disagree with. Because what I saw last year painted a different picture of this city.
Last October, while many of us were busy preparing for Halloween, Hurricane Sandy struck the east coast. The damage caused to the city by Sandy was far worse than was anticipated. Some people in the outer boroughs were left without electricity and water for weeks. In Manhattan, everything south of 34th street was without power for days. The lifeline for the city, our beloved subway, was closed for days.
Here at Columbia, though we were left relatively unscathed by the hurricane, many of us did our best to help out. Some of us had less fortunate friends stay with us in our apartments, which as you parents have already seen, are not exactly spacious. Others found different ways to help with the relief effort: volunteering at the overwhelmed city shelters, donating blood to the Red Cross, and finding other ways to make a difference. This picture, where the remarkable members of the Columbia community reached out to others, is one of the things that I will take with me as I leave this place. Regardless of what the Huffington Post or any other blog might say, New Yorkers and Columbians do look out for each other.
Looking forward, there are many things we can expect after graduate school. For starters, finding new ways to make a difference in the world. I’m also looking forward to not having to pay a $500 facilities fee, which frankly, I still have no clue where it all goes to. We also get to read, not what we have to for a class, but what we want to for our own pleasure. Or for us engineers, program code for our own pleasure? I’m not sure when that’s going to happen. But I am sure that we are moving forward. Like out time here at Columbia, we will continue to challenge ourselves, doing work that we consider to be worthwhile.
I’d like to close with an Italian saying: Chi fa falla, e chi no fa sfarfalla—Those who try make mistakes. But those who don’t try don’t do anything. That’s my advice for you all, even though you probably all already know it. For those of you who are staying in academia, keep at it. For those of you who are moving to industry, keep honing your skills. And finally, for those of you who, like me, were dodging a shaky economy, it’s time for us to use what we’ve learned to help build the economy. Thank you all and congratulations once again to the class of 2013!