| What brought you to Shimer?
The Great Books, the Chicago location, and the attitude I was treated with. When I visited Shimer and throughout my application process, I was treated like a member of the community, and I have continued to be treated as such. The size of classes (and the school as a whole) really adds to the learning environment. It's this group of people that you can go up to and talk about your classes or something awesome that happened or anything, really. It's a family.
What's your major?
Humanities. There are two things I want to do after Shimer. One: be an author. I've been writing since I was ten, and I figured that the best way to learn how to write a great book was to read a whole lot of them.
Two: be a firefighter. Most people, when I tell them this, give me a very confused look and say, "really?" Which I understand. I am definitely a very bookish person and going to a great books school doesn't seem like it would be the best choice for a firefighter-to-be. But what I'm gaining from my education at Shimer that will help me pursue my goal of being a firefighter (besides the beastly arm muscles I'll get from carrying all my books around), is a better understanding of myself, the global community that I'm a part of, and what it means to me to be of service.
Thus far what have your favorite and least favorite texts been?
I think my favorite would have to be Consuming Grief because it opened my eyes. I was really hesitant and squeamish about reading the book at first, but once I began reading it with an open mind, I realized how excellent it was and how much I was learning from it.
Least favorite. I actually don't think I have one. While some of them have been a lot harder for me to make sense of (like Aristotle's Physics), I've enjoyed all of them.
What's been your most memorable experience at the college thus far?
Playing with mercury in my Natural Sciences class was pretty awesome. As was discussing cannibalism in my Social Sciences class. Don't make me choose!
What about Shimer outside the classroom?
Ask for help if you need it, from the staff and the students who you speak to. People are here to help you, and I definitely took advantage of that and it got me to where I am today.
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