Why did you choose Shimer? 
My father went to school here.  I came to visit when I was a freshman in high school.  I attended a couple of classes and really liked what I saw.  I wasn’t enjoying high school at all.  Everyone there was telling me what to think and I don’t like that so I thought, “this is the kind of place where I can be myself and I won’t get in trouble.”

What is your favorite course at Shimer?
IS 2 was my favorite.  It had a very focused reading list and I really like that we read Euclid.  I’ve always liked Geometry so I got to see where all of that came from.  I also liked how later on in the course we read Lobachevsky, Godel, and Einstein, all people who overturn the things we learned in the beginning.

What are your favorite texts in the Shimer curriculum and why? 
I like Franz Fanon a lot.  He was probably my favorite author in Soc 4.   I also really enjoyed Karl Marx and Emma Goldman.  I especially like Emma Goldman because she gives voice to the things that I believe and she supports anarchism very eloquently.  I also liked Simone DeBeauvoir, another person who very eloquently says the things I already believe.  And then there’s people whose ideas are new to me, particularly Feynman’s QED. That was a fun book and I did my research paper on that.  By the end it really changed the way I look at physics and modern science. 

What are your plans for after graduation? 
I want to go to school for psychology.

What has been the most beneficial aspect of your Shimer education? 
Learning to ask questions and listen.  Now when I find out that someone has a different opinion than me, I am interested in hearing what it is so that I can learn from him or her.  Whereas before I came to Shimer I just wanted to argue with them.  I learned to really hear people and to value other perspectives.        

What advice would you give to prospective students? 
Work hard.  If you don’t do your reading, say that you didn’t do it, right off the bat, so that you don’t have to try to fake it.  Start on your papers early and keep an open mind inside and outside of class.