Pandemic University Podcast

Today's episode is the first one where I introduce the world to a Macalester student. Today's guest was Eric Yu. He is on the Macalester Student Government, an avid climate activist, and a pretty funny guy. Together, we discuss his upbringing and how he ended up where he is now, as well as a little bit about the current Biden transition.

P.S. Eric had a terrible microphone while recording this so the audio isn't too sharp. I will make sure this doesn't happen again.

I am excited to bring you the first episode record on Macalester's campus. This is also a bonus episode released a day earlier than usual! As I adjust to recording in a new environment, I decided that this would be a good episode to share my initial thoughts about being back. However, the bulk of this episode me sharing my transition into trying to think like an adult.

After being absent for about a week I thought I should explain why and talk about what's been going on in my life recently. Otherwise, the episode is just me rambling about some stuff on my mind. This is just a chill episode—I'll get back to normal next episode.

Welcome back to the podcast. On with me today is a very good friend of mine, Anouk de Gouvello. Together, we talk about feminism, women's rights, and how to be a part of the conversation. I am hoping that this can be a good opportunity to learn, especially since I think Anouk shares some very valuable insight. Of course, make sure to have other conversations with different people as each person can offer a unique perspective on this topic.

After a bunch of conversations I've had in some recent weeks, I decided it would be a good idea to talk about my insecurities. It's something I feel perfectly comfortable opening up about, especially because I feel like it can make someone else more comfortable with themselves. Insecurities are normal, they're ok to have, but they shouldn't limit you from being your best self.

Today's episode was recorded with one of my oldest friends, Cameron Kazebee (felt like I had to give him the honor of the first collaboration episode). Compared to my small liberal arts college, Cameron goes to UNT, a massive state university in Texas. We talk about our different experiences regarding social life, clubs, and academics and share insight on what it's like being at these different academic institutions.

Covid19 brought about a complete disruption in everyone's routine. Life came to a halt and every day was a guessing game as we waited to get back to normalcy. In this episode, I discuss how the pandemic broke up my routine and all of my efforts to regain structure in my life.

So, I know this is not important really but I had a lot of thoughts while editing this podcast so if you’re taking the time to read this then thanks. First, when I say international, I am specifically referring to where I went to school and the schools I interacted with. I know this should be obvious, but I feel like it will get lost. Second, I talk about wanting to find more international students and the irony there is, then why did I go to school in the U.S? But like, the section more to do more with a fear of feeling isolated, which I do feel. So once again, I’m not bashing American students for going to school in their own country, that would be stupid.
Final thing: after having reflected on my own words and thoughts, I realize too that as much as I hate identity politics it is prevalent in my life. I mean, I went on for a while talking about how people relate with each other based on their high school experiences. As far as identity politics goes, that applies right? So, I’ve got some reflecting I need to do. If you read this, cool. The next description won't be as long.