Principles for Student Success

Columbia Principles for Student Success:
Live Them.

If you embrace all that Columbia has to offer, you will have an amazing educational journey which will take you places you never imagined. Make these principles come to life and you will become a fully engaged member of your creative and educational community ready to take on the many challenges and opportunities awaiting you. Revisit these principles again and again and use them to guide your actions. 

Form Your Creative Posse. Life is a collaborative process and strong minds do find each other. Seek out new friends with whom you connect, and form your creative posse. Work collaboratively with others who share your interests and challenge your assumptions. Friends help ground you as you gain steadier footing, and eventually be able to call Columbia home. Join a student organization, attend events, introduce yourself, volunteer. There are myriad ways for you to make connections as you form your creative posse. 

Embrace Diversity. You've chosen a school that prides itself on the many differences to be found in a student body. Good for you! You will be surrounded by people who walk, talk, argue, dance, work, dress, and create differently from you, and that's a good thing. Use our diversity to enrich your life and become inspired as you mix by gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, geography, suburban, and urban. Deep diversity is in our DNA; make it part of yours.

Explore. Discover the culture of our city and campus. Museums, galleries, music halls, small concert venues, jazz lounges, historic architecture, comedy, theater, open mics, poetry readings, and panel discussions — both on campus and off, culture surrounds you, take advantage. Gather your creative posse and go explore.

Create Your Body of Work. Creation is a holistic process - you must look and learn from others' work, study the ingredients, know "the greats", reflect, and develop your own ideas, opinions, and perspectives. Columbia is here to inspire, and it's your job to create and find your voice. Of course we care about your grades, and ultimately your degree, but what we really care about is your creative work. 

Live Intellectually. Make life an extension of the classroom and venture outside your comfort zone to shape your world. Columbia insists that you become a well-educated, young creative. Embrace the Liberal Arts and Science core and become a well-rounded person. Develop a passion for knowledge. Grapple with ideas. Discover how learning involves both the mind and body.
 
Challenge Boundaries. The world is full of rules, boundaries, and demarcations. Some are necessary and others are restrictive or worse. As a young creative, you must push beyond your four walls of comfort. Whatever your major, you must bring an interdisciplinary spirit. Whatever your experience, you must seek broader horizons. Don't be afraid to show the world what is in your heart and soul. We want to know! 

Be Informed. Read the Student Loop. Read the Student Handbook. Read our student newspaper, the Chronicle. Explore our website. Watch Frequency TV. Talk to people. Ask questions. Seek answers. Did I say read? Yes, read some more. 

Creative Professionals Are Here for You. We have 1,500 faculty who love to inspire. Talk to them. Seek their counsel. Ask if you don’t understand. Let them know if their teaching is on target. Our 800 staff are more than eager to support you. Meet your college advisor. Talk to a counselor. Go to Student Financial Services. Find answers. Find contacts. Hell, make our faculty and staff a part of your creative posse. 

Live what you love. If you're exhausted on your best days, you're succeeding. Your work will become play as your passion and inspiration takes you deeper and further than you ever imagined. To develop as a young creative, you must engage all your senses - look, touch, smell, taste, listen. You must live it. You wouldn't have chosen this college if you didn't have a deep passion, now revel in it - you'll never have this experience again.