Why Every Barnard Student Should Read Lean In

by Samantha Plotner

Sheryl Sandberg has gotten a lot of flack since the release of her book Lean In. Beyond all the media hoopla, however, is a book every young woman (and man) should read. Sandberg draws on a combination of personal experience and management research, which makes her book rooted in fact, as well as occasionally laugh-out-loud funny. Sandberg faces many of the critiques of her arguments head on (in particular, that her points may leave out non-professional working women) in a way many reviews haven’t given her credit for.

For those of you who have seen her 2011 Barnard commencement address, the book is an expansion of the points she made to that senior class. Sandberg actually credits the experience of giving a commencement speech at Barnard as her inspiration to write Lean In. It is also enlightening to hear about the reactions she received as she started to talk about women’s workplace issues more publicly, and how the sometimes negative reactions she's received has only reinforced her resolve. She openly admits to not always seeing the problem, in particular when she was our age, when she used to reject calling herself a feminist. In the book, she explains why she didn't call herself a feminist in college -- a rationale very familiar to the reasons I've heard from other college-aged women.

For anyone who doubts that there is a problem, Sandberg does pretty quick work of showing that there is, demonstrating both the internal and external barriers women face in the workplace and addressing both throughout the book.

Senior Snapshot: Alexandra Ley

The Nine Ways of Knowing has decided to profile some of the amazing women of the class of 2013... and we're so sad to see them leave!! If you'd like to be featured on the blog or know someone who should definitely be profiled, fill out our tip form or email us at ninewaysofknowing@gmail.com.

Name: Alexandra Ley
Hometown: The Suburbs, CT
Major: Theatre, American Studies

What are you involved in?
Student theatre (mostly CMTS and KCST), NSOP, and 9WK, of course!

Guilty pleasure?
Coffee bubble tea at Cafe 212

Favorite memory from Barnard?
Singing on Low Steps at 3 A.M. in the ensemble of KCST's Midsummer Night's Dream during the midnight show. Hours wasted with friends watching TV/at 1020/talking/going out to eat at odd hours (which were never really wasted). President Obama, Donna McKechnie, and Wallace Shawn all came to campus in 2012, and I saw all of them speak, which was pretty great too.

Biggest regret of college?
Not applying to Barnard for freshman year. Not being more involved on campus/not giving Greek life a shot. Doing too much useless homework instead of hanging out with people. Not getting downtown enough (and I mean actually downtown, below 28th St).

Biggest leap of faith during college?
Transferring to Barnard sophomore year. Stepping way out of my comfort zone by auditioning for The Vagina Monologues junior year. Letting my guard down enough to go to Furman when I really needed it (they work miracles, guys). Getting photographed for the "What I Be Project" and making that picture the face people see on Facebook. 

Senior Snapshot: Julia Wu

The Nine Ways of Knowing has decided to profile some of the amazing women of the class of 2013... and we're so sad to see them leave!! If you'd like to be featured on the blog or know someone who should definitely be profiled, fill out our tip form or email us at ninewaysofknowing@gmail.com.

Name: Julia Wu
Hometown: Forest Hills, NYC
Major: French, minor in PoliSci

Guilty pleasure? getting an egg and cheese on a roll from HamDel at 3 am

Favorite memory from Barnard?
It's a tossup between throwing a party themed "Bikinis and Bellinis" in my dorm where people actually wore bikinis and drank bellinis or spending a week in Paris with the small group of French majors feasting on foie gras, good wine and generally just kicking it hard with my thesis advisor. (Thank you Barnard French Department.)

Biggest regret of college?
Not getting to know more of the girls here better. There are so many wonderful people with insane stories, all you have to do is sit one down with a baked good or a snack and chat with them. For the ones that I do know and love, thank you for making my college experience that much more interesting.

Barnard Commencement at Radio City Music Hall

by Ama Debrah

GRADUATED!

Barnard’s academic year finally came to a close with Commencement 2013 on Sunday. Although the weather was dreary, spirits were high as the family and friends of the class of 2013 slowly filed into their seats at Radio City Music Hall. The program was delayed as complications somehow lead to the procession taking over forty minutes, but the ceremony eventually began with opening remarks from President Spar, Jolyne Caruso-FitzGerald, Chair of the Board of Trustees, and Linda Zhang, Senior Class President. These addresses were followed by remarks from Jung Hee Hyun, SGA President, who was also the recipient of the Frank Gilbert Bryson Prize for excellence in contribution to the senior class. Lauren Hancock and Jennie Ostendorf, co-chairs of the Senior Fund, then announced that the senior class had raised $27,000 for sustainability initiative with 68% of senior class participation, the highest level of participation in three years.


After some eloquent academic reflections by Natalia Quintero, it was time for Banrard’s Medals of Distinctions to be given. Medals were presented to Jimmie Briggs, journalist and founder of the Man Up Campaign, and Elizabeth Diller, architect and founding principal of Diller Scofield + Renfro. The high point of the medal presentation was when Anna Quindlen hugged an obviously excited and nervous Lena Dunham who afterwards flashed a double thumbs up at the crowd. After President Spar presented the Medal of Distinction to Leymah Gbowee, Liberian peace activist and recipient of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, Gbowee gave an excellent commencement address urging the soon-to-be graduates to come out from the shadows and take on the world.

Senior Snapshot: Winn Periyasamy

The Nine Ways of Knowing has decided to profile some of the amazing women of the class of 2013... and we're so sad to see them leave!! If you'd like to be featured on the blog or know someone who should definitely be profiled, fill out our tip form or email us at ninewaysofknowing@gmail.com.

Name: Winn Periyasamy
Hometown: Wilmington, Delaware
Major: Political Science-Human Rights

What are you involved in?
CUMB (I play the melodica, write a joke or two, and make sketches for the YouTube page), CMUNCE, SGA, and Spectator. I also am a bit of an internship junkie.

Guilty pleasure?
Who's feeling guilty? I watch anime, play melodica in public, and wear a viking helmet as a thinking cap while writing papers from time to time. Don't feel guilty, feel proud! Own it.

Favorite memory from Barnard?
March 15th, 2011: also known as the transfer application deadline. I was going to go see a show with some friends that evening and had not had time to mail in my recommendation letters for the schools I was applying to in New York, so I thought to come up and drop them off myself. I was running pretty late and thought that admissions might be closed (the other school I was dropping letters off to that day had not been too helpful and the experience was really making me question applying to transfer at all) but when I got there, instead of kicking me out, the woman who was at the desk, Simone, stuck around for an extra hour and a half answering every one of my questions and talking to me as an alumni and a sympathetic ear (she had also transferred), not as a worker. And I remember walking out of the office that day with a heart so full with just...absolute warmth, meandering around campus, and finding myself spending a quiet half hour on the steps of Barnard Hall taking it all in and wondering what would I do if I didn't get into Barnard. Luckily, I never had to find out. There's so much about Barnard between band, Spec, SGA, CMUNCE that matters to me. But at the end of the day, my favorite memory is one that was before I even got here. Those moments with Simone and on the steps, that's when everything changed. That's when everything I have today, all of the good times, all of the bad, all the joy and all the friends, became a possibility.

Biggest regret of college?
It's a tie between not transferring sooner and having such a hard time saying no to people and to projects. While I love the things that I've done, I realize that it could've been a lot easier on me and on others if I had been able to say no to certain things and quit other things instead of letting myself get convinced into doing so many things because then I could've done a better job with the projects I've felt most passionate about. Definitely something I want to keep working on moving forward in life.

Biggest leap of faith during college?
Transferring. Hands down. It helped make 2011 one of the most emotionally-jarring years I've ever known. That being said, it was the best decision I've ever made.

What will you miss? Too much.

What won't you miss? GPAs. Blergh!

Favorite place on or off campus?
On-campus, Butler 209 or the Quad on Orgo Night. Off-campus, my little corner at The New Yorker.

In 5 words or less, what's next?
Homework, editing, friendship, graduate, life.

Midnight breakfast or Orgo Night?
Sorry, Zoe and her team do an incredible job with MB but...are you kidding me? There's nothing more awe-inspiring than Orgo Night. Late night writing sessions, shooting promos, wallpapering campus with flyers, charging into 209 with your best friends to the cheers of 800+ people who came there just to see you, performing in the Quad while papers fall from the skies at 3 in the morning...those are the things that make life worth living.

If you were a Morningside Heights bar which would you be?
None of them. Nothing beats Friday Night margaritas in 600 and in CG with my best friends.

Who will play you in the biopic of your life?
Me! Why would I let anyone else live my life? Next best choice is Benedict Cumberbatch.

Senior Snapshot: Natalie Lau

The Nine Ways of Knowing has decided to profile some of the amazing women of the class of 2013... and we're so sad to see them leave!! If you'd like to be featured on the blog or know someone who should definitely be profiled, fill out our tip form or email us at ninewaysofknowing@gmail.com.

Name: Natalie Lau
Hometown: Hong Kong
Major: Sociology

What are you involved in?
Intervarsity Christian Fellowship and stretching my limits of procrastination.

Guilty pleasure?
Really, really terrible puns. I can't help it, it's punintentional.

Favorite memory from Barnard?
There are way too many and they're all worth sharing... I'd have to say the most recent one that sticks out is the YouTube-themed surprise birthday party my friends threw me this year (yes, YouTube... and yes, it was awesome). Featuring: a homemade three layered black out cake, double the trouble with two Hannah Harts (not-so) drunk in the kitchen, my family's Harlem Shake video (true story), lethal mojitos and all my close friends.

Biggest regret of college?
Don't know about "biggest", but: Not investing enough in the campus and the people here, not studying/doing what I was passionate about for the sake of practicality, not participating in primal scream until my very last semester here.

Senior Snapshot: Rachael Stein

The Nine Ways of Knowing has decided to profile some of the amazing women of the class of 2013... and we're so sad to see them leave!! If you'd like to be featured on the blog or know someone who should definitely be profiled, fill out our tip form or email us at ninewaysofknowing@gmail.com.

Name: Rachael Stein
Hometown: Huntington Beach, CA
Major: Comparatively Literature

What are you involved in? Children's publishing internships

Favorite memory from Barnard?
I don't know if I have one favorite memory as much as a series of memories with all the friends I've made here...but I can say that I know what will be my favorite memory in the future: GRADUATION.

Biggest regret of college? Not getting involved in many (or any) school organizations.

Biggest leap of faith? Deciding to graduate in three years.

What will you miss? Pizza from the Diana Center

What won't you miss? Fire drills

Favorite place on or off campus? Downtown, in general

Senior Snapshot: Julia Kennedy

The Nine Ways of Knowing has decided to profile some of the amazing women of the class of 2013... and we're so sad to see them leave!! If you'd like to be featured on the blog or know someone who should definitely be profiled, fill out our tip form or email us at ninewaysofknowing@gmail.com.

Name: Julia Kennedy, aka Julkenn
Hometown: Bethesda, MD
Major: French

What are you involved in?
SGA all the time, BSAR for Admissions, Intern for the Athena Film Festival

Guilty pleasure?
Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I discovered it last summer when I was in a hot and sweaty 600 double last summer and I've been in love with it ever since.

Favorite memory from Barnard?
Too many to choose from! Every time an admitted student has come up to me after I gave them a tour or talked to them during Open House and they told me that they wanted to come here because of my tour or what I said to them. Sitting on the lawn under the blooming magnolia tree for class or for fun. Taking Modern Dance I with Caitlin Trainor this semester.

Senior Snapshot: Samantha Plotner

The Nine Ways of Knowing has decided to profile some of the amazing women of the class of 2013... and we're so sad to see them leave!! If you'd like to be featured on the blog or know someone who should definitely be profiled, fill out our tip form or email us at ninewaysofknowing@gmail.com.

Name: Samantha Plotner
Hometown: Great Falls, VA
Major: Political Science and Human Rights Studies

What are you involved in?
This blog! but also CIRCA and ResLife

Guilty pleasure?
Netflix marathons. The West Wing is getting me through finals

Favorite memory from Barnard?
There are a lot! Though if I'm going to be cheesy I'd pick meeting my boyfriend. It was my first CMUNCE (CIRCA's high school Model UN conference) and we met during midnight crisis (where we get the high schoolers out of their hotel rooms and have them debate in the middle of the night). On the 3am subway ride back, he got a bunch of fellow staffers to sing me happy birthday. He asked me out a little while later and we've been together ever since.

Dear Diana: Do I Have To Graduate?

Dear Diana,

Not as excited as you should be?

I'm a senior and it feels like all my friends have their lives figured out. They've gotten into grad school, or have gotten job offers. I have no idea what I'm doing after May 19th. No job prospects, even though I'm applying to tons of things, no clue what city I'm going to end up in. I feel like I'm supposed to be enjoying the end of college and graduation, but I'm getting more and more anxious. What if I don't have a job or a place to live? Even when I figure that out I get scared about paying my bills, and maintaining my relationships with my friends. It doesn't help that everyone and their mother asks me what I'm doing. What do I say to them? And how do I deal with the anxiety about being a grown-up?

Sincerely,
Do I have to graduate?

---

Senior Snapshot: Danielle Aronowitz

The Nine Ways of Knowing has decided to profile some of the amazing women of the class of 2013... and we're so sad to see them leave!! If you'd like to be featured on the blog or know someone who should definitely be profiled, fill out our tip form or email us at ninewaysofknowing@gmail.com.

Name: Danielle Aronowitz
Hometown: Great Neck, NY
Major: Biology (Religion Minor)

What are you involved in?
Community Impact, CU Water Polo, Women's Leadership Retreat, Columbia/Barnard Hillel, Science at Barnard!

Guilty pleasure?
"How to" videos on YouTube. I swear, I've learned so much!

Favorite memory from Barnard?
Oh gosh. Did not think I'd have to answer this so soon. Let's see. I don't think I can limit myself to just one memory, but I think one of my most favorite memories is from freshman year when me and my room mate went to Holi together. I had visited Barnard/Columbia as a high school senior on the day that Holi happened in 2009. It was the most incredible thing I had ever seen. I promised myself that if I went to Barnard in the end, I would do everything in my power to make sure I was at Holi 2010. And it happened! Actually, my room mate and I have gone every year! It is a memory and tradition that will always be one of my favorites.

Senior Snapshot: Hannah Roher

The Nine Ways of Knowing has decided to profile some of the amazing women of the class of 2013... and we're so sad to see them leave!! If you'd like to be featured on the blog or know someone who should definitely be profiled, fill out our tip form or email us at ninewaysofknowing@gmail.com.

Me-ow!

Name: Hannah Roher
Hometown: Little Rock, AR
Major: Biology

What are you involved in?
My friends' and family's lives. Oh and a bunch of CU stuff, too.

Guilty pleasure? Bubble tea, sans the guilt

Favorite memory from Barnard?
You know... There are so so so many great memories from these few years, so this question is nearly impossible. Everything gets mashed together in my brain to become this huge ball of happy emotion. I hate to mention just one memory at the expense of all the rest. HOWEVER one that sticks out right now is my birthday sophomore year. There were just so many friends and so much love and let's not forget to give a shout out to La Taqueria Fonda. Thanks for giving all 22 of us a free beer!

Biggest regret of college?
Not adhering to my rules of getting off campus all the time. It was easy to get sucked into insane-study-mode of everyone else around me. But I really should have left campus more (or at least as often as I wished to). Oh, and I suppose I also should have attended more campus events. So there's a conundrum for you. Okay wait college has been amazing, there are so many "should haves" but I honestly can't complain. Please.

Senior Snapshot: Anjali Deshpande

The Nine Ways of Knowing has decided to profile some of the amazing women of the class of 2013... and we're so sad to see them leave!! If you'd like to be featured on the blog or know someone who should definitely be profiled, fill out our tip form or email us at ninewaysofknowing@gmail.com.

Name: Anjali Deshpande
Hometown: Lumberton, New Jersey
Major: History
Guilty pleasure? ONE DIRECTION

Favorite memory from Barnard?
I've had too many "favorites" so I would say collectively, they've made my time here one of my favorite memories. I've never felt more myself than I do right now, all thanks to the people that accidentally and implicitly showed me the things that really matter, every time they convinced me to do something other than work. If I had to pick an actual moment, when Barnard sent me to the Women in the World conference last year. And on a more superficial note... when I got to be the limited edition magnolia t-shirt model last year!

Biggest regret of college?
My biggest regret is that I wasted any time at all freshman year, first semester, questioning if this is where I really wanted or needed to be.

Biggest leap of faith during college?
I have two. One is that I occupied my time with people and activities that were so different from what I was used to, but I ended up learning more than I'd imagined. And the second, when I gave myself one day to write a fifteen-page research paper, which I never would've even considered a few years ago... and it actually turned out surprisingly well.

A Day Out In The City: A Walk through Williamsburg

by Zoe Baker-Peng

Itching to explore some of the city before you leave?

Tired of walking up and down Broadway or re-visiting your favorite neighborhoods yet again? Reward yourself for being cooped up in the library for hours on end by exploring new areas around the city (or save this trip for a post-finals celebration)!

If you’re feeling energized, enjoy a leisurely walk to Williamsburg and get ready to find yourself some thrift shop bargains. If all that walking hasn’t finished you off, speed onwards to the Williamsburg Bridge and see Manhattan from one of the best views around.

(View Larger Map)

Pre-walk warning/advice: Starting from 5Pointz and ending on the Lower East side of the Williamsburg Bridge is approximately a 4.5 mile walk which takes about an hour and a half to two hours (without stops along the way). The walk from Pulaski Bridge to the North side of Williamsburg is the longest part, so I advise going with friends for good conversation! Pick a day with good weather. I suggest eating a good lunch beforehand and starting the walk in the late afternoon so as to reach the Williamsburg Bridge at sunset.

If you're just looking for some good thrifting and feeling the Williamsburg vibe, you could start from the Fox and Fawn thrift store (D) and walk to the Williamsburg Bridge (K) for a 2 mile walk that is 40 minutes long (without stops).

If you started your day around 5Pointz or MoMa PS1 (A and B), Walk down Jackson Avenue towards 21st street. Keep walking until the intersection with the Pulaski Bridge. Need a pick-me-up? Stop at Sweetleaf (C), a local hangout, which serves freshly baked pastries and wonderful coffee.

Walk over the Pulaski Bridge and enjoy the view of Manhattan (better views to come on the Williamsburg Bridge!). Note the street art along the side of the bridge depicting cyclists and pedestrians, or even motivational slogans, such as “Smile a little.” Soon you’ll be entering Brooklyn which is, according to the welcome sign, “like no other place in the world.”