SS: So do you have any idea why you’re the featured Wes Celeb?
ZZ: Well, I think it has something to do with me being from Novato, a suburban/rural town in the Bay Area. We have the largest vertical Frisbee golf course in the country.
SS: When did you start with Frisbee?
ZZ: It was the summer of my freshman year in college. I never knew about Frisbee golf until I came to Wes and then I went back home looking for a course and discovered there was this amazing course in my own backyard.
SS: Are you on the men’s team or the co-ed team?
ZZ: The team I’m on is called Nietzsch Factor. It has nothing to do with the philosopher/thinker, it’s named after a Frisbee player known for his clutch play.
SS: How are you guys doing this year?
ZZ: We’re doing really well. Actually we’re playing Regionals this weekend. Everybody should come out and support us in Newport, R.I. It’s only an hour and a half away. It’s a tournament, so it goes on all day Saturday and Sunday.
SS: Do you have a lot of studying to do for exams?
ZZ: I don’t have any exams.
SS: Oh, you have no exams?
ZZ: Yeah, I’m taking a light load this semester.
SS: Really, how many classes are you taking?
ZZ: Well, four classes, um, you know I’m in this program for special students. So they try not to give us too much work. It’s called the CSS major. They just joke around.
SS: So I heard you took a semester off. What did you do?
ZZ: I went up to Montana and worked for voter registration education, and did a lot of fly-fishing. It was very luscious, the whole experience. I highly recommend taking some time off. Montana is known for its big sky and if you’re a nature fan, it’s certainly the place to be – the sky just seems like it goes on forever.
SS: So are you a Democrat?
ZZ: A Democrat? I’d say I’m a Godwinian anarchist at heart, but I’ll probably vote Democratically. But the group I worked for in Montana was non-partisan. I’m more concerned that people are voters, and that they actually do vote. I was working on a website that provided non-partisan information on every candidate in the state throughout the country. Basically, we just gave the voter the plain facts, then we let them make the decision. For people interested, the website for the group is: www.votesmart.org
SS: So, as a CSS major do you want to go into politics when you graduate?
ZZ: Actually, I’m more interested in teaching, education.
SS: High school?
ZZ: Yeah, probably high school. It should be a lot of fun, maybe in the social sciences.
SS: How did you get interested in teaching?
ZZ: Well, I have a feeling that maybe it had something to do with the tutoring program that I do. It’s a program in Middletown called the Ascend Program. We tutor fourth and fifth grade students to help them academically and to foster a relationship between older and younger students. I work at Bulefield Elementary School in Middletown. Actually, tomorrow we’re having one of the science professors from Wesleyan come and do an experiment with the students, which is pretty exciting.
SS: So I guess you’re pretty busy, tutoring, Frisbee, CSS…
ZZ: Yeah that’s about it though.
SS: So do you have tryouts for frisbee?
ZZ: Well not really, but we have an A team and a B team.
SS: So are you on the A team?
ZZ: Yeah, and the name of the B team is Beach factor, the A team is the Nietzsch factor.
SS: So what’s your record?
ZZ: Our record? Well let’s see, after we beat Brown this weekend, it should be 28-6 or something like that.
SS: Are most of your games in the Northeast?
ZZ: Yeah, but for spring break we go down to Georgia and play Florida and Michigan State and all sorts of teams. It’s a club league so it’s not really formal.
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