Your Roommate
(pictured: Melissa Flores)
NM: What's your favorite part of having me as a roommate?
MF: You help me with calculus.
NM: That's all I do?
MF: And your hair smells good after you wash it.*laughs* I can, like, smell you when I walk in and I can tell that you just washed your hair.
Your Suitemates
(not pictured: Mackenzie Thomas and Nicole Medanic)
NM: What's your favorite part of rooming with each other?
MT: Having someone to talk to whenever I need it.
NM2: That I don't just live with her, we actually go and do stuff together. And since she's my best friend, I can tell her anything.
Your English Professor
(pictured: Dr. Robert Cremins)
NM: Why did you decide to teach at the University of Houston?
RC: I wanted to teach at a college level for a long time. I was a high school teacher for a long time, and I always had a professional ambition to teach at a college level. I first came to the Honors College to do a reading for one of my novels, because I'm a writer, that's my other hat. I got to know the dean [of the Honors College], and I think that he always had a mind that maybe I would be a good fit to teach in Human Situation and eventually got that opportunity. I started as a part-time lecturer and then I got really involved in life in the Honors College... Study abroad, which is something I really like to organize. I did academic advising, and I ended up teaching more and more classes and also writing for the college publications. So I arrived here at the beginning of 2010, I just got more and more involved with the life of the college, it's great.
NM: What's your favorite book that you've ever had to teach?
RC: Oh... It's gotta be something Irish, because I do like to, you know, tell people about Ireland and Irish culture. I would say probably teaching Yeats, the poetry of Yeats, the very book that I have in my hands here (Selected Poems and Four Plays, William Butler Yeats). These are poems that I've been reading since I was a teenager, you kind of grow up with Yeats in Ireland. They're very rich, kind of magical poems. I like introducing people to the world of Yeats and then sometimes, students get to go on these study abroad trips, and we have been and we will be going back to, Yeats country, which is County Sligo in Ireland. That really kind of completes the circle when you can kind of show people the landscape that he immortalized in his poems. That's a lot of fun.
Your Theater Directors (or the leaders of any group you're in)
(pictured: Trey Strange and Brooke Tolle)
NM: Why did you decide to become club theater directors?
BT: Well, this is actually only my second semester directing, out of eight involved with Club Theater, and it was originally because I was going to graduate last semester, and I felt weird being like, "Bye guys!!! ... Just kidding I'm back to act!" I was like, that's strange, so I decided I'd direct, but I ended up acting anyway. *laughs* Because someone dropped out.
TS: I became a director because I was just really fascinated with the production side of theater, this was my first time. I joined Club Theater three semesters ago and it was my first time doing any acting at all. After that, I just kinda fell in love with it, and fell in love with the people, so I kinda wanted to share the knowledge that I'd learned from some really great directors that I had, and help other people learn how to do it. I think it's really fun when you take someone who has maybe never acted before, or doesn't know anything about it, and take them to put on a show!
BT: Yeah, and I've been directed so many times, that I feel like I just have this tool belt, like, oh, you know, this person isn't being loud enough, well I've got a thing for that! Let's do this game!
NM: What's your favorite thing about the other person?
TS: Your heart. And how much you love people and how much you empathize with people
BT: I love... it's so hard to pick a thing. I love... That you're unafraid to be yourself. It took a little while for me to get used to you, you know, but once I did, I was like, oh, this is what this kid's about. It was like so beautiful.
TS: I love you.
BT: Aw, I love you too!
Your RA
(pictured: Alexis Williams)
NM: What's your favorite part about the University of Houston?
AW: Definitely the diversity, because literally every single person you meet all have something different about them. Whether it's the way they look, where they're from, the way that they talk, what they're interested in, so definitely the different people you come into contact with.
NM: Why did you decide to become a resident assistant?
AW: I wanted to make a difference, especially with first year students. I know my first year here, I was kinda lost, I was the only one from my high school here, so I was like okay, let's try this. My RA really helped me, so I wanted to be that person to someone, in case they have no idea what they're doing in college, like I still don't know what I'm doing in college. *laughs* But, in case they need that person to just help them along, I'd be the person that's just right down the hallway.
The Future President of the United States of America
pictured: Jakob Doxey
NM: Who's your favorite professor?
JD: Professor Alexander.
NM: And Professor Alexander teaches what?
JD: Macroeconomics.
NM: What do you like about macroeconomics?
JD: Honestly, it's fun to study the economy, and because I want to do entrepreneurship. Finding demand and then meeting supply, that sounds educational.
NM: And what do you want to be when you grow up?
JD: President, eventually.
NM: You have some high goals. I'll vote for you.
JD: Thank you. That means a lot.
