Back to the Future

About Back to the Future

Emily Tamkin is a Columbia College senior majoring in Russian literature and culture. She is the general manager of the Columbia Political Union, vice chair of the Senior Fund, literary criticism editor of The Birch, and a former Spectator editorial page editor. Back to the Future runs alternate Wednesdays

Articles

A word from Doc Brown

We hold the power to determine our own futures.

The last shall be first

There are beginnings to be found in endings.

I speak Columbian, and so can you

Use language to include rather than to exclude.

Do not ask me what I’m doing next year

Instead, ask what me what I want to do next year.

Say 'be mine' in your own good time

Whether you want to get married sooner or later, or not at all is up to you.

The big man on campus is small

Achievements may seem elusive after we enter the real world.

Call me, beep me, if you wanna reach me

We should reconsider what we mean by "staying in touch."

On being immature, maturely

We have reason to revert to moments of childish naïveté.

My final class act

As much as I wish I had learned even more in college, I have no regrets.

Don't rank stressed students

There's more to our lives than talking about the amount of work we have.

The undergraduate lament

Learning is much more important to us beyond getting us a job–but why?

If ours is a lost generation

The media often forgets our ability to rise to the challenges of the economic recession.

What I would like to tell an interviewer

The value of my study abroad shouldn't be measured by the job it gets me.