Episode Notes | Episode Transcript | AskTheGuest
Mabel Tie is a graduate of Barnard College with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Education Studies.
Mabel says Barnard taught her to be comfortable with the uncomfortable.
From academics to tutoring Math, her least favorite subject to kids in New York City Public Schools, Mabel was challenged. Her first summer she went to Hong Kong taught leadership to teenage kids.
She was on Columbia’s Community Service Board. She oversaw the various clubs at Barnard.
Mabel recently won the Schwarzman Scholarship to pursue Graduate Studies in China.
Hi-Fives from the Podcast are:
Episode Title: Mabel Tie on Barnard College: Psychology, Caring Student Body, and Public Service without Borders.
Episode summary introduction: Mabel admits that her high school version did too much. She ran the Community Service Board, Weekly Homeless Shelter dinner, was in Student Government, played Soccer, Piano, Clarinet in Symphony and was in the band!
Mabel Tie is a graduate of Barnard College with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Education Studies.
In particular, we discuss the following with her:
Topics discussed in this episode:
Our Guest: Mabel Tie is a graduate of Barnard College with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Education Studies. Mabel is a Schwarzman Scholar.
Memorable Quote: “But I think you have to trust that your hard work and your effort and the support networks you have around you, is going to take you to where you're meant to be and where you need to be. And once you get there, you'll grow from where you're planted.” Mabel Tie.
Episode Transcript: Please visit Episode’s Transcript.
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Transcript of the episode’s audio.
Day where the community comes together and we call Greek Games every year, freshmen, second year, third year, fourth years, you just it's a competition you get points, like winning games, and you eat outrageously amount of like trashy food and candy. But it's a really fun time when the entire campus is so stressed with finals and midterms and things of that sort. And I think represents the idea of how like, college should be people taking care of each other.
Mabel Tie is a graduate of Barnard College with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Education Studies. She is also a Schwarzman Scholar.
Mabel admits that her high school version did too much!
Ran the Community Service Board in High School and Weekly Homeless Shelter dinner, Student Government, Played Soccer, Piano, Clarinet in Symphony and in the band!
She loved journalism, thought she would major in English and become a news anchor for a network like ABC.
Mabel Tie joins us today to talk about her Barnard College years.
Before we jump into the podcast, here are the High-Fives, Five Highlights from the podcast:
[Overall Experience]
I told my parents as I told my friends and family when I chose Barnard, I was choosing a school that was going to make me the most uncomfortable the one that's gonna make me grow the most. And it certainly did that for years.
[Why Barnard]
And I chose the school in the day because I wanted a place I was really going to help me grow. And I thought that what better place to grow than New York City.
[Peers - “Cared about the World”]
So I felt as though like my peers were all people who cared about the world. I think we all had like some specific mission or something that we really cared about, that we want to fix or change or improve on in the world.
[Why Schwarzman Scholar]
So I think going through the application process and applying to Schwarzman the more and more I met people and the closer I got to being a Schwarzman scholar I realized like this is really right. Like I felt I felt right to me. I think understanding that like this process this program, which is one year will help me meet people and challenge myself to think about what is it I really want for the future was really important for me. So I'm excited to see how this program challenges me and helps me grow.
[Advice For Aspirants]
Barnard was not where I expected myself to be. I had a lot of other schools on my list and I thought I would end up somewhere else. But I think you have to trust that your hard work and your effort and the support networks you have around you is going to take you to where you're meant to be and where you need to be.
Venkat Raman 3:15
Now, I'm sure you want to hear the entire podcast with Mabel. So without further ado, over to Mbel Tie!
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Venkat Raman 3:24
First of all, welcome to our podcast, College Matters. Alma Matters. Great to have you on this program and look forward to our conversation here.
Mabel Tie 3:35
Yes, thank you for having me.
Venkat Raman 3:37
Absolutely. Absolutely. So as we chatted before we're basically trying to you know Chronicle college stories from a variety of alumni for the benefit of aspiring students world over and you know, your undergraduate experience and that too, a recent, recently graduated Barnard college student. That's awesome.
So first of all, congratulations on making it through the undergraduate program. And yeah, I'm sure a great things are ahead of you.
So let's jump right into it. I maybe we could just start with your overall experience. You know, now that you've just graduated, what, what was that like?
I think it was surprisingly just different than what I expected. Um, I'm from a small town in Georgia, and knew that choosing Barner would be a really big leap for me. I told my parents as I told my friends and family when I chose Barnard, I was choosing a school that was going to make me the most uncomfortable the one that's gonna make me grow the most. And it certainly did that for four years.
Venkat Raman 4:55
Wow! In what way?
Mabel Tie 4:57
I think it really challenged me to go beyond my comfort zone, even just like arriving on campus, I, my advisor put me in a junior level class, involve me. It's called top notch in the city and involve me going into New York City public schools and teaching math is like my least favorite subject. So it was definitely a challenge from the very beginning when I ended up at Barnard.
Venkat Raman 5:26
Okay, so let's rewind a little bit and go to why you pick Barnard.
I actually applied to a lot of schools. I'm a very indecisive person. And I made my decision maybe two or three days before the deadline of may 1. And I chose the school in the day because I wanted a place I was really gonna help me grow. And I felt that what better place to grow the New York City. I feel like New York City is such a big dream for so many people. And I think you're such a unique experience to have my college experience in a major city coming from such a small town in Georgia.
Venkat Raman 6:04
What were you like in high school? What what kind of things did you do?
So high school I like to say that version of me maybe did a little too much. I my schedule was always filled up with activities. I ran a community service board in high school and also I ran a weekly homeless shelter dinner in my hometown.
I was involved in student government. As a treasurer, I played soccer, I played piano and clarinet. In a symphony and in the band. I just did a lot of things in high school, I think High School is a good time to try things out any pressure. I went to a school that was pretty small i'd 60 Kids per grade. That allowed me to feel that I could fail and I could grow and there'll be no real consequences because I had such a good support network in high school. And that support network is what led me to like being comfortable enough to make that next step for me choosing Barnard. But high school, I think was just a really fun experience for me, like maybe doing a little too much, but really enjoying all the stuff I did.
Venkat Raman 7:10
How was that transition then from high school to college. Now you certainly mentioned New York City and Barnard. And how was how was that transition first? An overall level and then from an academic perspective.
Yeah, so I think from the overall transition was definitely tough for me. My first year, I think I was really homesick. But I think I got very lucky. My first year roommate happened to be from Florida. So we kind of dealt with a winter together and really dealt with the homesickness together. We really knew each other very well. she happened to become my best friend, and we live together for all four years. So I was a poster child for maybe the perfect college experience and the perfect roommate. So that she helped a lot with the transition. But I think academically, I felt very prepared in some ways. People ask because I say Barnard, in some ways, so easier to me than high school. Because I mentioned before high school, I did a lot did so many things. I wasn't really sure about the stuff I was doing. But in college, I was able to choose what I really wanted. I was able to be more selective about the time I put into what activities, what academic experiences I wanted. And I also the academic experience at Barnard was definitely challenging. But my high school experience being a college preparatory school. Yeah, really prepared me for it. In some ways, it was like a very seamless transition for the academic experience part.
Venkat Raman 8:39
How did you find your classmates and peers? What did you think of them?
I do, its interesting, so Barnard, as you know, is a women's college but I think it's very unique woman's college experience. Because we are in New York City, first of all, and second of all, we're closely connected to Columbia University, Columbia University's right across the street, and we're one of the five undergraduate colleges, I felt like we had a lot of like experiences are tied across with Columbia. So my experience, even though I had the wonderful experience of my first year seminar, and my first year writing to be women focus on women, only. The rest of my college experience is pretty well integrated with the city and with Columbia. So I felt as though like my peers, were all people who cared about the world, I think we all had, like some specific mission or something that we really cared about, that we want to fix or change or improve on in the world. But we were also able to collaborate with each other, which I thought was really important. Especially going to like an elite University where I think it's easy to see the competition and not see the collaboration. So I think that was surprising to me was like, okay, like, yes, I'm at the school where everyone's really smart and really intelligent, but also like they're willing to collaborate. We can work together on a project or we can think about how we want to solve this world issue. That was really cool for me.
Venkat Raman 9:59
Now Did you take a number of classes in Columbia as well? Or...
Mabel Tie 10:04
Yes, I did. So the great thing about Barnard was you were able to structure your schedule the way you wanted it to. So I have friends who had only classes at Barnard. I had friends who really took only classes at Columbia because only in Colombia offer the major they are interested in. But I was in a unique position with studying psychology. Psychology is like one of the most popular majors at Columbia Barner so I was able to choose so we had like shopping week at our school where you can like sit in different classes and see what fits well for you. So I was able to put like, Columbia and Barner would offer probably the same type of class but I was able to sit in their course and see which instructor or what environment suited me best. Actually, every year my my course schedule was pretty much half Barnard half Columbia. So a really good mix of like more smaller liberal arts kind of center classes at Barnard and Columbia offered a more academic research base, larger class feel to it.
Venkat Raman 10:59
How was, how was the teaching? How were the professors?
All our professors were really great. I got very close to my advisors, especially my first year advisor. Normally your first year advisor is just the one who gets paired Off with you. They're not really involved in your major. They're just someone who fits like the needs of the service you filled out. I got lucky because as I mentioned, she was actually an education advisor and she put me into her junior level seminar. And I ended up studying psychology and education as I mentioned. So she was really transformational for me. She was the one who like kind of held handheld me through my freshman year when I was very, like just nervous and anxious about what the future held for me. And she was able to challenge me to be in like classes I wasn't sure about and ultimately my freshman year summer I taught in Hong Kong. And that's also thanks to her, like pushing me towards that experience. But yeah, she was really important for me. And then my psychology advisor happens to be Professor Tova Klein, and she runs the toddler Center at Barnard, which is a research center on toddlers. And it's really cool because that brought together my psychology and education interest. And I was able to take her class and work with kids. And then that led me to understand like developmental psychology and understanding like what I wanted for my career better because of her influence. So I felt like I got very lucky with like the professors I met because they were like, really passionate, and I feel like they actually really cared about my experience. And also like, what, where I wanted to go my future career.
Venkat Raman 12:35
So let's talk a little bit about outside of the class. You know, you were obviously a very busy high school student. How was campus life? At Barnard, and I guess it overlaps with Columbia as well.
Yeah, so it doesn't overlap for me at Columbia, because, for me, I actually was on the board of community impact, which is Columbia's community service board. So I'm on that board for several years really enjoyed that experience, because I went from being a volunteer teaching in classrooms, volunteering, with homeless outreach to being on the board where I can organize and budget and help them plan out on sustainable like service opportunities. And then, so that was a very true Columbia experience. And on the Barnard side of things, I ran the governing board at Barnard, which happens to oversee all clubs on campus. So that was really fun for me, because I got to see like, what my peers are passionate about, whether it was boating or dancing, or like women empowerment, I was able to just really be there to see like the good work they were doing, and also support them through helping advocate for them on like finance committees and things of that sort. I was able to lead this both like Barnard student life, but also the Columbia student life. And then I think that allowed me to, like get to know a lot of cool people, but also just understand, like, Where do I see myself and like serving the community that is around me, and that allowed me to do both.
Venkat Raman 14:07
What else did you do?
Mabel Tie 14:09
I also ended up mainly doing a lot of homeless outreach. So as I mentioned in, but my high school experience, I ran out weekly, weekly, homeless shelter. And I when I got to New York City, I was like, oh, shoot, like, I think New York City has one of the highest rates of homelessness. So I was able to be on an organization where we are able to go to the, on the streets, and give supplies and talk to people, connect them to health resources, connect them to other like New York City resources, such as housing, and things of that sort. And that was really important to me, because I feel like that's a community that's often overlooked. I think everyone deserves a home so that experience connecting it to my high school was something I always wanted to continue and I'm really glad I got the chance to do that too.
Venkat Raman 14:59
Now how was how were the dorms and the living at Barnard?
Yeah, so as I mentioned, I got really lucky because my freshman year roommate happened to become my best friend and we end up living together for all four years. Barnard actually guarantees all four years of housing if you enter as a freshman, so I never really had any issues with getting housing. I think getting like off campus housing in New York City could be daunting. But I had a few friends who did do that. But I really loved like the on campus housing experience, just because it really differed. So freshman year, it was very much like the traditional like, Hall quarter style living where you all share a massive bathroom and like a lot of people on each Hall. But then when you move to your sophomore, junior senior year, you have a lot of options about how you want to live. So I was able to actually live in an apartment style living at the end of my senior year, which is really cool. Because, three, there's three of us in a suite, and we shared a kitchen and a bathroom. And it really felt like we were living in the city. So I think the experience is like the on campus housing experience was cool, because you had a lot of options of how you wanted to live your four years. And then in the process, I felt like I grew because I went from like dorm traditional housing to living on a more independent apartment housing kind of style. Housing really worked on was great for me, but I think the city could be very difficult for housing by the partner made it pretty easy.
Venkat Raman 16:31
Now what did you do the different summers?
Yeah, so summers were a really fun time for me because I mentioned my, my freshman year advisor really challenged me to do things I was just a little bit uncomfortable with. So my freshman year summer, I ended up going to Hong Kong, and teaching my own class that I created called leadership. And I was teaching this to ESL students in Hong Kong, all of them were first generation disadvantage, all the rest 16 or 17 years old. And I was teaching from like seven in the morning to like 6pm at night. And this was like, a two, three month experience in Hong Kong. My mom is from Hong Kong. So for me, it was really cool experience to live in her shoes for a little bit and see her home country. But it was definitely a challenging experience, because I think teaching teenagers isn't easy. And then you add in the language barrier. And you add in a topic like leadership, which is not something that everyone is really taught or encouraged sometimes, it definitely made it a really uphill battle at times. But I think I really enjoyed it because I was able to see the power of teaching and the power of education, and see that I was someone who had the skills and the knowledge to impart on others. But I didn't in the day, I was really surprised. And I about how much I learned. I came in with really, I guess idealistic expectations that I would be the people be the person teaching these these kids. But I left with a lot of knowledge about how do you actually pursue the dreams that you have? How do you navigate relationships with adults who may not see the same vision you have for the kids that you're working with that you do. So I really learned a lot about how to navigate difficult conversations, and helping teenagers find their path that they really want, despite all the noise of adults around them. So that was my freshman year experience.
Mabel Tie 18:27
And then I'm trying to think myself my so then sophomore year was interesting for me. The sophomore year, I decided to actually go to China for the summer and take summer classes, and also spend some time with my family in China be then gone back in 10 years. So it was a personal experience of since my freshman year summers was on my mom's family in Hong Kong. I want to experience more my dad's family in China, my sophomore year, and I also took a religion class and a public speaking course at the University of Business and Economics in China. So that was cool for me. And then I was able to see all the Beijing attractions and do all these like touristy kind of things. We'll also spend a lot of time with my family in Inner Mongolia, where they live.
Mabel Tie 19:14
And then junior year summer for me was actually COVID summer so actually, it was supposed to be at UC Berkeley's Public Policy Program. We were supposed to take graduate level public policy classes with professors and there was a group of us there's like 30 of us live in Berkeley and kind of experience California and take these classes together. But unfortunately, the COVID my program became online. Sure. So even those online The great thing about it was my community is very close for that Berkeley program. We all have like video calls, messaging, all these things. I was really excited. He's actually so in my program from Berkeley, Otello, he actually happens to be in Switzerland with me too now. So it's a very much Full Circle experience that the people I've met along the way are still with me even now. So after that Berkeley program that summer taught me a lot about public policy, really wanted to do policy work, I realized I really had an interest in seeing how numbers and quantitative analyses could really change the world for the better. So that prompted me to apply to Schwarzman scholars, which is what I'm doing now, after graduation.
Venkat Raman 20:27
You mentioned COVID. And I kind of wanted to get your quick thoughts on what that was, like in terms of college experience that almost one and a half years roughly.
Mabel Tie 20:42
Yeah, so I think it was really tough because what happened, at least at Columbia was March of 2020, COVID had hit New York City, and we get shut down and become online. So initially, we thought it was going to be a one week spring break. And our one week Spring Break ended up being the rest of the year online. So none of us really prepared for it, I actually did get one of my friends in the city to help me pack up my room, and mail things back to me because I, my parents weren't comfortable me heading back to the city and everything had shut down so quickly, it was hard to get back to the city. So that happened, it was really stressful. Um, I think my professors definitely struggle to, to go online. So my professors at Barnard Columbia are definitely on the older side. Yeah, because the technology part of it was a challenge, and definitely was a learning curve for a lot of them, and then hit fall semester, there are rumors that we're going to back in person, but then you said you had a spike in cases. So then I think we ended up going back to being online, just like two weeks before school was was the start. And we were going to move back they decided, Oh, actually, like, we're going to be online still. So my fall semester, my senior year, which is fall of 2020, was also still online. But I think I thought that my fall semester was definitely a lot better than my spring semester. Because they're just better prepared. I think there's trainings for my professors. And there's also, they hired student workers called preceptors. To help with the technology and the zoom part. When we had the classes online, I think that part was much smoother, and the transition was better. But I think I was definitely disappointed of not having my senior year in person. But then my spring semester was, we lived on campus. And then even though my classes were still online, at least lived on campus. And were able to like meet up with professors and able to hang out with my friends enjoy my final like few months in New York, which I think was really awesome for me, because I wanted a sense of closure, especially as I was graduating from college, which I think is a really big experience. I wanted to have true closure with
Talk to us a little bit about your major. I mean, you. You've alluded to both psychology and education along the way. So how did you end up sort of converging on that and picking that to major?
Mabel Tie 23:08
Yeah, that's a great question because I came to college. For those of you for those of you who knew me in high school, I was determined to do journalism. I wanted to major in English I wanted to work be like the next like news anchor like ABC or something crazy. So I had these big dreams of journalism, got to Barnard, um, I felt a bit burned out from high school because I also in high school, I ran the school newspaper in the school literary magazine.
So I came to college thinking, Okay, yes, I love these things. But also wasn't I gave myself the chance to try something different. So I took a psychology introduction to psychology my freshman year, and I loved it. Um, so and I realized a lot of you who knew me also like social work, and education and teaching was something that I would enjoy, because I've always had like a talent and a gift with working with kids. I used to work with special needs kids in middle school in high school. And I've always felt like I had the patients and really had the gift of really working with kids and just enjoyed it tremendously at the end of the day.
So that's what led me do psychology, because I felt like taking this the introduction class, I was like, oh, like, I'm so fascinated by this. And I feel like I could actually study and learn this forever. And I'd be happy with that, which I think was different for me compared to English, where I felt a lot of frustration with journalism, because if anyone who's ever been the writing process, you know, it's never as someone who's a bit of perfectionist, English is probably not the best path for me, because I constantly felt as though like there was no ending and there's no closure and I always wanted to do better.
And psychology was cool for me because even if you're in a lab or you're doing a research project or doing a paper, there was a sense of closure because you would have results and you demonstrate that and you would move on to the next thing and build upon that. So psychology gave me a different side of being able to interact, and like change the world, but also not feel as though like, I was stuck in the same cycle of wanting to be a perfectionist all the time. So psychology came about because of that.
And the education part I study was because as I mentioned, my first year advisor, teaching in New York City public schools, was really cool for me, because I was like, oh, like, these are children who are in school systems that are maybe not perfect, but they have educators who care and I can be someone who also cares and puts in this effort to really understand how to teach other people, something that I struggled with, because I saw a lot with math. And I think being on the flip side of being someone being able to teach that and see someone get that kind of lightbulb of understanding was really awesome for me, because I realized like, it can be different if I choose to make a difference and help others see in the light that I wasn't able to see as a kid.
Venkat Raman 26:01
Why, Why do you think being a Schwarzman scholar is the right next thing to do for you?
So as I mentioned, I did the Berkeley program and the UC Berkeley policy program really opened another door for me because I realized, yes, I love psychology, and I love education. But I want to make real systemic change. And I think that comes with doing government and policy work. So I applied to Schwarzman because I met someone named Christian. And he was like, your story has real power to it your story that people have you met like, this is important. So why don't you try you try this application. And you see if it's the right fit. And I went to this application completely true to myself, I think some people apply to things, you tend to either over glorify or underestimate yourself. But for me, I went into applying to swordsman was really clear and open eyes being like, I want to be 110% true to myself, if I don't get this, I know it wasn't the right path for me, because I am myself. And I want that to be the story give to others. So I worked on the application. It was kind of rushed. It was like two weeks before the deadline, working on all of it, and submitting it, and not really letting a lot of people help me or proofread to proofread my application. But I wanted just to see if this was right for me, because I felt that sportsman was developing what I wanted to develop, which is like this idea that like public service, and public leadership, works across the fields, especially works across country and boundary lines. These horsemen at the end of the day, for me, it's it's a program focused upon building relationships with US and China, and understand meeting other peers across the world internationally. He shared this perspective of mine, which is collaboration is so much more important than than competition. So I felt as though sortition was the right step for me because I wanted the other people who are just as passionate as me about the future that we are going into. So I think, going through the application process in planet sportsman, the more and more I met people, and the closer I got to being a source and a scholar, I realized like, this is really right. Like I felt I felt right to me, I think understanding that like, this process, this program, which is one year will help me meet people and challenge myself to think about what is it I really want for the future? What is really important for me, so I'm excited to see how this program challenges me and helps me grow. Because I think in the process, I'm going to find a lot about myself, but also figure it out, what is it I want for the vision of the communities that I'm serving? And like, ultimately, the other people in my cohort, how do we envision the world like that Rebuilding Together.
Venkat Raman 28:46
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And I wish you all the best with this, I think, is a great thing to look forward to hear. Are you going to be able to physically go or is that? Is that to China? Or...
Mabel Tie 28:58
Yes, I'm actually gonna be able to go, which I think my cohorts really excited about not all of us are gonna be able to go because of COVID restrictions and also, because of family and personal reasons you can choose not to and like my program is supporting everyone financially even if you're unable to go. So I think it's a really awesome experience. He's ultimately our spring semester will have everyone but for now we're doing so many zoom calls, and doing so many get togethers in different cities, that I think we're already starting to build the community that we want to have.
Venkat Raman 29:34
Let's look a little ahead and maybe you can reflect on how Barnard has sort of prepared you for your life after college. What do you think are the takeaways?
Yeah, I think the biggest takeaways from Barnard was why really wanted to get from from the very beginning. And I talked about this when I was a tour guide at Barnard was Barnard taught me How to be uncomfortable how to be comfortable with the uncomfortable. I think coming from a small town that's pretty traditional and pretty conservative. Going to New York City was definitely challenging for me, it was meeting a lot of people who didn't share my perspective and didn't kind of look down at the south and kind of look down at Georgia from where I was coming from, as maybe not as progressive or forward thinking as New York City is. So I think Barnard was taught me a lot about how to stand up for my own voice, but also like, how am I able to admit when I'm wrong, and how am I able to, like, grow from the mistakes that I have, and understand that like, that itself is almost more important than than winning or getting the grade that you want. It's more about the process of learning and the process of like, meeting other people and learning from them. That is something I really take away from Barnard now is I think the connections I make with people matter so much more than anything else. Because I think when you're in high school, when you're applying to colleges, or even when you're in college, in the very beginning, there's so much focus on materialistic or academic like trophies kind of thing, like you want that perfect a or you want to get that leadership position, or all these things that you're grabbing for. I think now when I reflect back on my bar experience, even my high school experience, and the future I'm looking towards, is that it's like the people that led me there, it's the people who I was friends with people who I didn't like so much. Advisors, mentors, who challenged me to do better and be better. Those are the things that I think really helped me get to where I want to be in who I am. And not so much I can't remember the grades I cared so deeply about, I can't remember them now. So I think it's kind of funny, the things that matter to us so much in the past, it looks so different now when you're kind of out of that bubble.
Venkat Raman 31:53
If you could go back, is that anything differently that you would do at Barnard, those four years?
That is a great question. Um, I kind of live my life, right? I try to not have any regrets about the things I did. But I think I wouldn't be who I am if I went back and change anything.
But I think if anything, one thing, my advisors, I met with them before I left New York City, they all told me, like I could have rested a bit more. I think I could prioritize myself a bit more than others. I grew up on a very much servant leadership mindset and felt as though I always needed to do more and be more of my community. And I've loved my experiences. And I think I've loved my community a lot. But I think recognizing now as I get older, I can not serve my community or serve others the way I want without taking care of myself first.
So if I could do anything, maybe the only thing I do differently, maybe, is to make a little bit more time for myself, and make time for like, the people closest to me, then just all the activities and things I was doing. Because I think it's really easy to get lost and all that.
Venkat Raman 33:03
Now that you're a graduate, and you have all this experience behind you, what would you tell a aspiring student, a college bound student, maybe even applying to Barnard.
So yeah, I actually give tours at Barnard. And I always end this way, and I want to share this piece of advice, too, is like, you're gonna end up where you're meant to be. I think when I was a senior in high school, I was so stressed over analyzing every little str or every grid I ever did when my SAT score was, and there are so many details and so many little things that go in the process of figuring out your future. But I think whether it is the universe, God faith, or whatever it is that you believe in, I think there is something leading you to where you need to be. barter was not where I expected myself to be. I had a lot of other schools on my list, and I thought I would end up somewhere else. But I think you have to trust that your hard work and your effort and the support network you have around you is going to take you to where you're meant to be and where you need to be. And once you get there, you'll grow from where you're planted. And I think that's really important. And understand that even if you get somewhere you start growing and you don't love it. There's always room to change but you're never stuck. And I think that's important too is understanding like you can always change where you are at. Especially if you don't enjoy it because you should never feel at age 18-19 whatever it is to feel like you don't have another choice. There's always another choice.
Venkat Raman 34:40
So Mabel we are getting to the end of our podcast, I kind of wanted to give you a chance to share some memories or traditions or anything else you want to share. before we sign off here,
Yeah, so I'll share one of my fav memories, I had the chance to run Barnard games for a few years at Barnard. And it's really funny because has nothing to do do with Greek life. But just tradition that started from the very beginning of Barnard's opening. And it's just a day where it's like in a very stressful time this semester in April. And all we do is we do games, we do food. It's a day where the community comes together, and we call games beat every year, freshmen, second year, third year, fourth years, you just, it's a competition, you get points from like winning games, and you eat outrageously amount of like trashy food and candy. But it's a really fun time when the entire campus is so stressed with finals and midterms and things of that sort. And I think it represents the idea of how like, college should be people taking care of each other. And that day, I love so much because I think it's a day we're all bar women come together and take care of each other. And we just leave it all behind just to have a day of fun. And so that's always going to be one of my most favorite and treasured memories.
Venkat Raman 36:04
No, that's that sounds really great. So So Mabel, this has been excellent. I mean, I really enjoyed your insights. And I might say maturity and have thought. So thank you so much for sharing all the details, and also giving us so much time. I wish you all the best in what you're doing and hopefully, keep keep in touch so that we can track where you are over the next few years. So yeah, thank you again. Thank you again. Take care, be safe, and I'll talk to you soon.
Mabel Tie 36:41
Yes, thank you so much. Take care. Yep. Bye.
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Venkat 36:45
Hi again!
Hope you enjoyed our podcast with Mabel Tie about Barnard College.
Mabel says Barnard taught her to be comfortable with the uncomfortable.
From academics to tutoring Math, her least favorite subject to kids in New York City Public Schools, Mabel was challenged.
Her first summer she went to Hong Kong taught leadership to teenage kids.
She was on Columbia’s Community Service Board. She oversaw the various clubs at Barnard.
Mabel recently won the Schwarzman Scholarship to pursue Graduate Studies in China.
After listening to Mabel, I am sure you want to check out Barnard College.
For your questions or comments on this podcast, please email podcast at almamatters.io [podcast@almamatters.io].
Thank you all so much for listening to our podcast today.
Transcripts for this podcast and previous podcasts are on almamatters.io forward slash podcasts [almamatters.io/podcasts].
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Till we meet again, take care and be safe.
Thank you!
Summary Keywords
First-Gen Student, Barnard College, Schwarzman Scholar, College Podcast, Columbia University, US Colleges, College Admissions, Tutoring, New York City Public Schools, Psychology, Education Studies, undergraduate