humans of 33 prospect
a collection of interviews of humans of quad, who make it such a special place
"Well, the reason I ended up at Princeton is because it was less expensive than MIT [haha]. When I was a sophomore, I was friends with Elizabeth and Mary and we were deciding which eating club to join. We were between Colo and Quad…we were eating at Colo when we decided to sign into Quad (lol sorry Colo) because we were looking for a place where we could meet new people and make friends. As a junior, I took a gap semester in the fall and came back to a bunch of new people in my friend group, but they turned out to be pretty cool. It was strange at first missing so much, but I have the habit of bouncing around places so I am kinda used to it. I went to 4 different high schools and have lived in North Carolina, New Hampshire, Tennessee, and California…That’s why I am so latched to the idea of NYC as a concept. I want to stay somewhere for a long time, somewhere where I am connected to the people and the place. I hated NYC before I came here because I had a fear of rats, but after working there for a summer, I realized that it is so fun! So many things to do, I can walk everywhere, and so many young people."
“I’m an astrophysics major and next year I will be starting my PhD in astronomy at Northwestern. I have always liked STEM and research is pretty cool, which is how I’ve ended up here. My career goal is to become a professor in astronomy so I can teach science and give that access to others. Notably, I am aware that the PhD to professor conversion rate is not great (nervous laughter) so I am open to careers in Data Science as well. My dad is also a professor so he influenced me to follow this path…he jokes that having tenure means you can do whatever you want. I don’t know how true it is but I guess I would like to find out (haha). When I'm a professor...no grade deflation. Unlike some people I know...”
“Princeton has a good balance of liberal arts classes and engineering/science/math classes, so I feel like I can get a good mix, which is why I wanted to come to Princeton in the first place. My future plan is to do software engineering for 10 years, then maybe after I want to start my own business. I’m not sure what it would be, maybe a bookstore, coffee shop, bakery, or restaurant... I think it would be fun. I feel like I would get bored after doing SWE for so many years. I think it would be nice to have the opportunity to grow my own thing, something I have created... I really like creating things in general, whether that be through crocheting, drawing, or painting. It feels nice to make stuff and when I start to work, I want to make sure I don’t lose that creative expression. I’m gonna make a big effort to keep my hobbies and make weird shit. I need to set aside time to fulfill my creative juices…”
“After graduation, I'm going to restore the Golden Horde in Mongolia with the Peace Corps. The plan is to teach English to sheep for 2 years over there [what].. I initially joined Quad in February 2020 because my friends did. Then I rejoined in February 2021. Then I rejoined in February 2022 (lol). Even though I had taken the gap years, I still had friends in Quad that I wanted to reconnect with. I had actually been part of the Quad discord server for two years at that point, so I felt like I had to rejoin…I'm a history major because physics is too hard for me. But also because I really like and am passionate about history."
"I was deciding between going to MIT and Princeton. I decided on Princeton because MIT was too far from home and my older brother Ceon was at Princeton. I also joined Quad since Ceon was in it. I guess I look up to Ceon. I think he is smart, responsible, and cool [I made him say good things about Ceon]. We were very close growing up and basically did everything together. We had the same friend group throughout high school too. Because of him I decided to get involved in Quad and met my main group of friends."
“I got into Princeton through Questbridge. I applied because it was well-known and I just wanted to apply to some places not in Florida. With Questbridge, if you get in you have to go, but I am really glad that I am here. I think about the butterfly effect and how if I hadn’t checked my email one day and decided to do Questbridge none of this would have happened and I would never have met any of you… You know as sophomores we were coming off of the COVID year and I only had a few friends outside of my roommates. I was pretty shy but I joined Quad. At the welcome dinner, I had a lot of fun and it felt like a welcoming community. I wanted to get more involved so I became a sophomore officer, which made it easier to make friends because of the officer commitments. I think it is a really good space and community for me…I am also an RCA and I like it a lot. I enjoy the mentorship aspect and being involved in helping students. I am studying molecular biology right now but haven’t decided what I’ll be doing after undergrad. I am not sure if I would want to do research, med school, or something else entirely.”
“I chose Princeton because I liked the ORFE major. ORFE combines a lot of my interests, like I like math but don’t feel like getting my degree in just math… When I was a sophomore, my roommates were trying to bicker clubs but I didn’t really want to do that. One of my upperclassmen friends was in Quad and brought me to meals a few times and I enjoyed it, so I decided to join. Like lots of the others, I decided to become a sophomore officer because I didn’t know anyone. I also did student government in high school so I knew I would like this sort of thing. I liked planning events and doing work behind the scenes to make the club a better place. That is also why I ran for president my junior year…corny but I wanted to give back to a community that gave a lot to me. I liked being president because it kept me busy and taught me management and organization skills. It was really fun to work with friends to put different projects together…I am sad to leave.”
“Every day, we do the New York Times word games together: Spelling Bee, Connections, and the Crossword, Strands. It’s just a fun thing we get to do together every day. We started it because we were bored idk (LOL). If anyone else asked me to play the games with them I’d say no. I can’t have spoilers because I have to play with Mary …We met as sophomores. We both were new sophomore officers of the club and didn’t really know anyone. We got closer while doing our officer stuff and our friendship became stronger over the years. NYT games are fun… it's just our thing now.”
“I'm a chemist, and I really, really enjoy chemistry. I am basically a chef but with extra steps. In lab I get suited up in fancy protective gear and have to take special precautions because I am working with dangerous stuff. You get to tell people "Oh, I worked with this" and they gasp and are impressed that I work with these things. It’s very Breaking Bad core…Marty told me Quad is a good place, and when I found myself in a state of social opportunity (i.e. no friends), it was the perfect chance to branch out socially. It's good, it's fun. I like having friends and eating the great food there…My hot take is that I did not enjoy the movie Oppenheimer. Ratio / L / not a good movie. [i ask if he is just a film snob] I would call myself a film snob...I just have taste, what's so hard about that? I didn't like how they portrayed Florence Pugh and the other women - it didn't portray women, that era, the science, or the history properly. The film was so entranced by the figure of Oppenheimer himself that it missed any point of truth that would make the story actually useful. All spectacle, no real substance...maybe a little bit of substance.”
“I came to Quad because a person in my original class of 2023 was in my zee group. She was cool, so I convinced my friends to join Quad. Once they joined and loved it, I decided to follow suit. It's probably a better experience than the other eating clubs because of friends there… I really enjoy playing pool - I played before coming to Quad and my friends also play, so it's a nice bonding experience for us. To me, the pool ladder kinda sucks because it makes the game too competitive. I'm in it just for fun, though I am egotistical enough to want to be number one...Next year, I'm going to graduate school with plans to become an architect and real estate agent. Basically I want to buy properties with abandoned/rundown buildings, fix them up, and resell them. I want to work on apartment buildings, commercial real estate projects - we've already built so much, and I don’t want to just add more, I want to improve what is currently there. [Is this gentrification? Hell yeah!]”
"I was born and raised in Tunisia, a small country in North Africa. When I was 17, I left to go to a boarding school in South Africa called the African Leadership Academy. It meant leaving home and doing another year of high school, but it was worth it. My goal was to go to university abroad and attending ALA gave me a much better chance than the high schools back at home. I chose Princeton for their math department. Now I'm doing computer science with a math minor. I do miss home, but for now my plan is to stay here for a while. I want to live in a diverse place with more opportunities for growth compared to where I am from."
"Hi, I am Mary, the person who made this website. I was inspired by Humans of New York, a website that features street interviews of people in NYC and the surrounding areas. When I joined Quad in my sophomore year, I was looking for a way to meet new people, especially after taking classes online for my first year. Now, I spend most of my free time there, studying, playing games, watching TV, eating, napping, etc. Joining this club really marked a turning point in my college experience. The purpose of this site is to showcase some people in this community who have made my experience worthwhile. What makes a community is not a place, but the people in it. Thank you all for being kind to me!"