We put some graduates on the spot to get their last words on leaving the College:

Larissa Mark

Major: History and American Studies

What’s next: “I’m moving to D.C. to work for McKinsey, I hope in its public sector practice.”

The CC Takeaway: “Both my majors were very focused on thinking, writing and synthesizing information, so I hope to apply that to whatever problem I want to solve. Columbia also taught me a lot about how to interact with people, to show empathy and kindness, and to say hi to everyone.”

Peninah Rose Mbogho

Major: Art History and Visual Arts

What’s next: “I’m not sure yet, but I want to go to grad school. For now, I want to take a three-month break and travel.”

The CC Takeaway: “I learned to be critical of my sources and the types of information I receive and to take different viewpoints into account — to quest for the truth.”

Nihal Shetty

Major: Comparative Literature and Society

What’s next: “I’m starting a Slavic Ph.D. program at UC Berkeley.”

The CC Takeaway: “I met amazing faculty, but more than that it was learning from my peers and being surrounded by interesting and deeply thoughtful people who really challenged me.”

Patrick Flanagan

Major: Biology

What’s next: “I’ll be in medical school at SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn.”

The CC Takeaway: “Taking what I’ve learned in the classroom and using that as a tool to connect with people — especially people with different backgrounds — and trying to find commonalities.”

Lukas Salomon

Major: Economics and Psychology

What’s next: “Consulting in Germany.”

The CC takeaway: “Being able to do lots of different things at the same time; you can’t do that where I’m from, in Austria.”

Giovanni Pagán Velez

Major: Political Science

What’s next: “Completing a master’s at SIPA.”

The CC takeaway: “The value of meeting people from across the globe and being exposed to different cultures. I’m from Puerto Rico, and I’ve lived there my entire life. Meeting all kinds of different people was really an enriching experience!”

Adam DeVita

Major: Economics-Mathematics

What’s next: “I’ll be working in Tribeca at Citibank.”

The CC takeaway: “The friendships and the bonds — the community of working with people.”

Brianne Felsher

Major: Human Rights

What’s next: “I’m going to graduate school at UC Berkeley for the jurisprudence and social policy program; it’s a Ph.D. program.”

The CC Takeaway: “I learned about listening to my friends and integrating their opinions into my academic output.”

Rachel Chin

Major: History

What’s next: “I’m going home to Kingston, Jamaica, but then I’m going come back to New York to work.”

The CC Takeaway: “I think the biggest thing I learned at Columbia is that there are different ways of viewing the future. That it’s not necessarily just about going to a university to get a degree to get a job — you can learn in a way that promotes learning.”

Photographs by Eson Chan

Kevin Wu

Major: Art History and Visual Arts

What’s next: “I’m going to stay in the city for a year or so to get to know the art world here and make art for myself without any restraint.”

The CC Takeaway: “I learned a lot of practical stuff, as well as the rhetorics of the current art world.”