I lasted an admirable half hour before I gave in and finally asked, “How many credits did you say that you’re taking?”

Guillermo Peschard Rioboo, a School of Engineering and Applied Science first-year, had answered this question the first time we talked, in the same Joe Coffee one week before, but he told me again anyway: “Twenty one and a half.”

I try to imagine taking 150 percent of my current course load and cringe.

“Yeah, that’s wild,” is all I could say in response.

“I’m starting to feel the consequences of taking that many courses right now,” Guillermo admitted. He had just come from a Data Structures in Java midterm and would be going straight to studying for the next day’s midterm after we finished.

I suddenly felt guilty for pulling Guillermo away from his busy schedule in the middle of midterms. I felt worse when, after I had already finished my latte, he revealed that he doesn’t consume caffeine. Yet, Guillermo never complained, nor did he give the slightest indication that he would rather be anywhere else than answering my meandering questions in the middle of Joe’s afternoon rush. In fact, despite the hectic nature of his daily schedule, he exuded calmness.

It’s only Guillermo’s second semester at SEAS, so he reserves the right to change his mind. But for now, he’s considering majoring in applied physics and concentrating in computer science and economics. Each is a practical, widely-applicable field that could lead to any number of successful careers—not that my history major and I know anything about that. But Guillermo’s motivations are more personal than just making six figures.

Guillermo has had an interest in engineering since early childhood. He was born in Mexico City in 2004—making him only 16 when he started college—but his family moved to Westchester County for his father’s work four years ago. He likes the area and its proximity to nature, a pleasant difference from the urban hustle of both Mexico City and central New York.

Although neither of his parents actively work as engineers—his father’s job here in New York is in business—both studied engineering at university. And though his parents never pressured him to follow in their footsteps, Guillermo said their passion for their work made him interested in science and engineering at a young age.

“I’ve always loved numbers, science, physics, and engineering,” he said. “Since I was really little, I always loved watching science documentaries, like Cosmo.”

Considering his lifelong propensity for STEM, when I stalked Guillermo on LinkedIn prior to our first meeting, his high school immediately stood out to me: the French-American School of New York, an international school in Westchester. Why a French education?

Guillermo explained that, when he had lived in Mexico City, he attended the same French international school that his father had growing up. After moving to New York, it felt natural to continue at a similar school.

He became interested in studying economics when he took a class in his junior year of high school and immediately loved it, “even though it’s not really a STEM subject.” In my mind, economics has always occupied a liminal space as the “hardest” of the “soft” sciences. Guillermo enjoys this aspect of it, explaining that “everything about building models, testing them, making predictions from models is very like STEM. ”

However, Guillermo’s high school didn’t offer computer science. His first experience with the field came at Columbia—specifically, at a summer program on the University’s campus that he attended in 2018.

He chose computer science on somewhat of a whim. “It was something I didn’t really know about, but I thought it could be interesting, and it would also be pretty useful for me,” Guillermo explained. The problem-solving aspect of it, combined with its application to his other interests—programming can be useful in both physics and economics—made him sign up for more advanced computer science classes when he returned to Columbia the next year. “I really ended up loving it.”

That summer program also marked Guillermo’s first time on campus. “From the first moment I stepped on campus, I just loved it,” he recalled. “The location, obviously, is great. But at the same time, when you’re inside campus, it really feels like you’re inside the campus.”

Guillermo left those summers with a high opinion of not only Columbia’s campus but also its quality of education. He especially appreciated Professor Daniel Bauer from the computer science department, who taught during both of the summers that he spent on campus.

“I love how he taught. Even though we were still high school students, the amount of effort he put into us—I thought it was great,” he said. “When I got accepted at Columbia, I sent him an email.”

Although Guillermo hasn’t had a chance yet to take one of Bauer’s classes as a full-fledged Columbia student, he plans to as soon as he can fit one into his schedule. Other than that, Guillermo’s plans for the rest of his four years are vague.

“The education level here at Columbia is really good, and so I really want to take advantage of that,” he said. “That’s part of the reason I’m taking so many classes. I just want to take as much in as I can. Take advantage of the opportunity that I have to be here.”

When I asked him what he wants to do after college—a reluctant question, as, though I’m a junior and should thus really have post-graduation plans, I hate being asked questions like these—Guillermo was noncommittal. “Honestly, I’m still not sure. … I probably want to do, after graduating, do graduate study,” he replied. “After that, I don’t really know.”

The good thing about taking so many classes at once is that it gives him plenty of academic and professional avenues to explore. Yet, I find myself worrying for Guillermo’s work-life balance. Does he get six to eight hours of sleep? Any time for hobbies? And no, “I enjoy my school work” doesn’t count.

“Unfortunately,” Guillermo started, as I braced myself for the revelation that SEAS doesn’t leave time for hobbies. “I’m a huge Dallas Cowboys fan.”

Oh, I think. Why “unfortunately?”

“My dad, when he grew up—the Cowboys were actually good, so he became a fan, and so in my house we’ve always been watching Cowboys games, always getting Cowboys shirts, and all that,” he explained. But now, since the team has spent the past few decades decidedly mediocre, he must “suffer the consequences of that.”

“I’m usually a really calm person,” he continued. “I never get angry. I never shout or anything. But if you watch me during a Cowboys game, I become a completely different person.”

I’m not particularly knowledgeable about the NFL, but having experienced Guillermo’s calm and agreeable nature, I can only conclude that being a Cowboys fan must be the most rage-inducing experience on the planet.

It turns out that Guillermo is as much of a fan of playing sports as he is of watching them, and is just as well-rounded in his hobbies as he is in his academics. “I’ve played soccer, tennis, basketball, golf. Baseball, even, when I was younger. I’ve done taekwondo also,” he said, admitting blithely that he is “not especially good at any of them.”

“At the moment, what I’m most obsessed with is golf,” he added. Guillermo started playing at the beginning of the pandemic, a time when the open, green spaces of the golf course must have been especially appealing. “Right now, during the winter, the courses have been closed. And so I haven’t been able to play basically since the semester started,” he said. But with spring starting and midterms tucked away, I hope that he’ll be able to get back to his hobby soon.

Guillermo also insisted that he sincerely enjoys spending time on his schoolwork. Contrary to my expectations, he has even been enjoying the Core Curriculum, touting its ability to give him a chance to explore subjects outside his existing areas of interest.

SEAS students take a modified Core with fewer requirements than that of Columbia College. Right now, Guillermo is taking Hispanic Cultures II to fulfill the Global Core requirement. “I honestly don’t really know much about the history of Latin America, even though I grew up in Mexico,” he said, “I took it because I found it interesting.”

Guillermo’s wide range of interests and willingness to try out unfamiliar academic subjects seemingly make him a poster child for Columbia. He mentioned a childhood interest in World War II history and described an internship at a biology lab researching COVID-19 last summer. Neither led to a possible field of study, but Guillermo likes trying new things.

More than the number of credits that he’s taking or the ambitiousness of his degree plans, it’s this openness to trying new things that I find myself admiring about Guillermo. Not everyone would open an email from a stranger and agree to spend hours talking about their personal life for an article they have no control over. I don’t know if I would. Maybe it’s an attitude I could have a bit more of, even if I’m not about to take three more classes and add a concentration for the sake of academic exploration anytime soon.

When I asked Guillermo if he would like to change anything about his Columbia experience so far, he was momentarily stumped. It’s not surprising—if anyone was made to thrive in Columbia’s high-intensity, multidisciplinary environment, it’s probably someone like him. Then, remembering our earlier conversation, he lit up.

“I would make, like, a golf club for those who are bad but who like to play.”