Seen and heard
Change of address
The Class of 2018 in their own words, with a little familial advice thrown in.
Edited and adapted by Sean Carr, AB’90
Maybe Tolstoy was onto something with that line about happy families. On the first day of O-Week this past September, as the members of the Class of 2018 moved into their dorms, moms tended to be chatty and bubbling over with pride, dads were stoic, younger siblings were more nervous than the first-years. The Core was on Bartlett Quad to capture the transition for four families.
Omar Afify and family
Sterling Heights, MI (by way of Egypt)
Major plans? Probably biology. I got a five on my AP, so I’m going to take a certain sequence they told me about. I still have to meet with my adviser.
Vintage tastes: I’m working on Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. I usually like reading World War II-era stuff.
Down time: I’m really into sports: soccer, basketball, football. Not really into varsity. I’m probably just going to do intramural, all the Olympics and stuff they have with the houses.
Younger-brotherly advice: The city’s over there. My best advice is concentrate on this area; don’t go late at night over there. Stick to the studies.
Elsa Carlson and family
Wisconsin Rapids, WI
Major plans? I’m planning on linguistics. I’m really interested in languages, and I like grammar. So for a long time I wanted to be an English major, but then I’m like, I can’t see myself being an English teacher. Then I found out: linguistics. I think it’s really interesting.
Advice from Mom: I advised her to major in linguistics [Elsa: Yeah, back in like eighth grade]. And she got all excited. Also, bring a coat. She does Nordic ski racing, so she usually just wears a windbreaker all winter.
We’re not in Narnia anymore: I’ve been going through this collection of books by C. S. Lewis I borrowed from a friend. Mere Christianity, Screwtape Letters, that stuff.
Luke Clohisy and family
Chicago, IL
Favorite bands (aside from Queens of the Stone Age): Too many to name. I like anything from the ’60s to the ’90s. Skip over ’80s hair metal and I think that’s pretty good.
No Stranger to Camus: The whole sleep as a metaphor for death thing I really liked.
Advice from Mom: College is something you have to figure out on your own. The best thing is, be a good roommate. Be open-minded. Don’t have a preconceived idea of whom you’re going to see here.
Class he’s looking forward to: Media Aesthetics: Image, Text, Sound. The description really caught my attention, kind of philosophy meets the modern world as far as art and music goes.
Major plans? I’m thinking chemistry, maybe biochemistry—one of the sciences. Then, hopefully, medical school. That’s the plan at the moment; everything’s subject to change.
Simone Oliver and family
Birmingham, AL (by way of Arlington, TX)
Major plans? Statistics. I like finding patterns in data.
Data-crunching power: A 10-year-old Mac and an HP laptop.
Life during wartime: I’m reading Dispatches by Michael Herr. We read a selection from it in one of my pre-humanities courses for the Chicago Academic Achievement Program this summer. And I really liked it, so I’m going back through and reading the entire thing.
Listen to your grandmother: I would like for her to study hard, enjoy her classes, and just have a great time.
Celebration song: “D.A.N.C.E.” by Justice.
