This week, The Argus sat down with Amari Stuppard ’25 from Randolph, Mass, to discuss everything from queer representation on campus to dropping and adding majors. With a love for science so palpable it’s contagious, and a take on campus involvement culture so relatable it makes thinking about extracurriculars in the same way challenging, Stuppard shed light on how they’ve crushed their past four years.

The Argus: Why do you think you were nominated to be a WesCeleb?

Amari Stuppard: Realistically? I think it probably has to do with the fact that I try to be very friendly to a lot of people that I don’t know. 

A: So, you’re popular?

AS: I guess, I guess. Popularity as a concept is interesting to me. In pop culture it has its connotations, which is maybe why I hesitate to call myself popular. I know a lot of people, and a lot of people know me. So if that’s how we’re defining popularity, then, yeah, I’d say I am popular, I guess. I don’t know, it’s weird! During my freshman year, I tried to become close friends with everybody I met. A lot of people on campus range from, well, terrible people to good people, but essentially there are a lot of people on this campus who are nice or kind or who I enjoy interacting with, and who I wanted to be closer friends with. At the same time though, it can be exhausting to try to become good friends with a lot of other people and also maintain my close friendships, so I eventually got burnt out of that. But in that process, I really put myself out there, and so I think that’s why people know me! Long story short, I think that’s why I was nominated.

A: Taking it back to academics, what is your major and what led you to choose that? 

AS: I’m a neuroscience and behavior and College of Integrative Sciences (CIS) double major, and my concentration in the College of Integrative Sciences is molecular biology. So I like science, if that wasn’t clear. I’ve always loved science. When I came here, I originally wanted to be a neuroscience, molecular biology and biochemistry, and sociology triple major. I still remember my freshman fall, doing all of the credit math, and planning out every credit that I take, and every credit that I would be required to take to complete those majors. When I planned everything out, it would take 28 credits to complete all three majors, and then I’d have four credits left, which I would then have to use to get my level one [in general education requirements]. I was like,“That’s perfect! I could just do that!” But, then I dropped sociology when I realized that I couldn’t read that material effectively. I don’t really like when people say things or write things in a way that’s super jargony when you really don’t have to, or when the topics you’re talking about can be transposed down to that of layman’s terms. It’s just very frustrating for me. 

I can sort of understand when things become jargony in science because you’re talking about physical things or interactions that happen, and you then need to have new or jargony terms for those interactions. Even when they made sense though, they really just frustrated me to the point where I honestly felt like I couldn’t finish the readings, and so I just wouldn’t finish the readings. So I ended up dropping that major. I then dropped the molecular bio and biochem major because I took one bad lab class, and I thought to myself, “I’m not doing that kind of lab again,” so I guess I’m not doing that major.

But then I added the CIS major. The whole thing with it is that science is interdisciplinary, so it’s a linked major. You can have your concentration in CIS be any science that isn’t your attached major, so I was able to still do molecular bio—which I really enjoy. I also just stuck with neuroscience because I like the brain. It’s a really interesting organ.

A: Taking a step back, you spoke briefly about your time before Wesleyan, but tell us more—what led you here? 

AS: I didn’t apply to a lot of colleges, but of the colleges I did apply to, Wes stuck out to me as a very open type of community. I mean—queer person here—I like seeing queer people! I felt like that facet of people is well represented here. 

The reason I’m so gung ho about queer representation is that—for context—I grew up very religious. My parents were Pentecostal and I went to church in Rhode Island every week. I live in Mattapan, Mass, so I would drive an hour to church every single week. On top of that, my grandmother was the founder of the church, and my grandfather founded a bunch of different churches.

I went to a Catholic elementary school, and then I went to a Catholic all-boys private high school, and, surprise, surprise, the queer representation in those communities isn’t really the greatest. The fact that I was seeing a lot of queer people was a major plus for me. Also, what really did it for me was seeing a lot of androgyny that happens on this campus, and that facet of my identity felt very represented.

Also, I really liked that [Wesleyan] had an open curriculum. I really liked that because then it would have allowed me to not necessarily have to worry about gen-eds. At the time, I didn’t know that I would still have to complete my gen-eds if I triple majored. I mean, I’m not triple majoring anymore, so it doesn’t matter.

A: That’s fascinating, thank you so much for sharing! This is a hard pivot from the previous question, but what are you involved in outside of the classroom? Are there any organizations that you want to shout out? 

AS: No! The mainstream archetype of a Wes student is someone trying to triple major and who’s involved in 10,000 things, and that’s just not me. I enjoy doing things to further my education, but outside of that, I’m not doing [extracurriculars] because I’m always overwhelmed by the few things I do have to do!

I don’t ever even feel real pressure to be a part of things. I don’t even go to parties because I don’t feel the pressure to be there. I don’t want to go, so why would I go? I think there’s a pressure baked into a lot of the Wesleyan community where they feel like they have to be a part of things, and that’s just not me. I’d rather just be overwhelmed by the few things I do, and then use my free time to decompress from that. 

A: That’s so refreshing to hear, it’s like everybody’s doing everything and then 15 things on top of that, and it’s really not that straightforward.

AS: Yeah, you don’t have to be involved. Every year, different people have come up to me in Eclectic, saying, “You should join Eclectic, come on, please try out!” I tried one year, and I went to a party. I went for a few minutes, and then I left, that was my entire showing. Eclectic is a very special place for some people, but I just didn’t care to do that. I just very firmly go against the idea that I have to be putting myself out there and actively being a part of a community in a way that is anything other than existing. The fact that I am on this campus, existing around campus, is enough for me to feel like I’m involved in the community.

A: This is a tough question, but is there any moment or accomplishment you’ve experienced at Wes that you feel particularly proud of?

AS: I wouldn’t say so, and the reason is that I don’t have a hierarchy to [my] experiences. I’m proud of the fact that I’ve made it this far in college!

A: That makes a lot of sense. Earlier, we talked a bit about the past, but elaborating on that, how would you say you’ve changed since freshman year?

AS: I’m definitely a lot more comfortable expressing myself. Part of the reason I came here was because of the queer representation. I think a big change that I underwent was realizing that people who are accepting of queer people can suck too. In freshman year, I almost felt indebted to people for being kind to me “despite” my queerness. I’ve realized that people respecting your identity is actually a bare minimum. 

Also, like I was saying before, I stopped feeling like I needed to maintain a close friendship with every person that I knew. It’s 100% not sustainable. Besides that, I think a lot of my other changes are a lot smaller or a lot less apparent, or just more personal. Other than all that, I don’t know, my hair’s gotten a little longer?

A: Speaking of all things personal, as your time at Wes comes to an end, what are you thinking about doing after you graduate? 

AS: I’m not really sure. Immediately following college, I’ve been looking at different programs and different ways to continue doing science, and I’ve been on the fence about applying for a master’s. I’ve been doing more soul-searching and trying to understand myself more, and seeing if it’s actually something I want to do, or if it’s just me putting pressure on myself because of others’ expectations. I do think I would want to stay in academia possibly, or at least come back to academia. I may apply for a PhD program at some point, but definitely not immediately after college. I just don’t feel the pressure to, like, get all my life together immediately out of college. What’s the point of that? I’m not trying to commit to a decision just out of principle without actually listening to myself. 

I’ll just take it day by day, maybe get more piercings. 

A: That’s the exciting part of life! Would you want to stay in state? Or, are you trying to get out of sunny Connecticut?

AS: Oh, I definitely am getting out of here. Where to? Not sure!

A: Fair enough! We’re running out of time for today, but as we’re drawing this interview to a close, is there anything else you want to share with readers of The Argus or the campus at large?

AS: My mantra is this: it’s almost never that serious. People just take themselves too seriously! I guess that’s the way I’m connecting all the things I talked about. I’m tired of seeing everyone take themselves so seriously. Be silly! I have foam fingers: Wes foam fingers that I bought from RJ Julia, and I work them into my outfits as my hands. Is it inconvenient? Yes! I can’t hold anything! But it’s silly. It’s fun. My thing is overall, I don’t try to take myself too seriously, because that just gives me undue stress. I already have a heart condition! I don’t need to be more stressed, you know? I just think people ought to be silly. That’s all.

Willow Simon can be reached at wsimon@wesleyan.edu.