A poet and percussionist, Nate is the third person in his family to attend Northwestern. In addition to participating in Honors Club, he is active in his dorm, Heemstra Hall, where men who live in the dorm all four years are dubbed “Warrior Poets.” Nate is a resident assistant, member of a brotherhood (an accountability group) and weekly contributor of poems to the Heemstra website: www.heemstrahall.com.

The life of the mind
“My English major is teaching me to enjoy, respect and engage language. I hope to become a professor and writer, but if the future steers me elsewhere, it’s no loss, since communication is thought to be the most important career skill. Above all, my English major helps me think and live artfully. I’ve learned to take personal interest in people, places and ideas—and I want to devote my life to creatively understanding and discussing them.”

Readers and writers
“Northwestern’s English department is essentially an esoteric talk show that might air on the Discovery Channel. I love Granberg Hall’s homey milieu. I appreciate the small class sizes and conversational atmosphere—the discussion of provocative art in a little house on a college campus.”

Book talk
“I hope to be the sort of teacher and writer who convinces students that literature and other study is an invaluable conversation about life. I believe that school is more than a seminar to beef up pseudo-adults’ future earning potentials. It’s an opportunity to absorb and refine classical knowledge in a diverse community. I want to not only become a better communicator and critical thinker, but also a more understanding person, active citizen and person of faith.”

In a word: inspiration
“If the apocalypse struck and I had to settle on the works of several authors to ease my passage, the works of Annie Dillard, Don DeLillo and Allen Ginsberg would suffice. Their writing represents three of my favorite genres: spiritual naturalism in creative non-fiction, commentary on post-modern culture in fiction, and the exploration of the human senses in beatnik poetry. I’d like to try my hand at each of these, but so far I’ve written only critical essays and rowdy poetry. There’s so much to read first!”

True community
“Northwestern’s revolutionary community in Heemstra Hall has molded me into a lover of diverse people and ideas. I’ve been blessed to see people of different backgrounds and sensibilities discuss their beliefs and questions about life. My years in Heemstra with 80 other guys have given me a model for living.”