NESCAC Friday Characteristic: Emmanuel Odim, Amherst Males’s Swimming & Diving

Why did you select to attend Amherst?
I selected to attend Amherst as a result of it supplied all the pieces I may ever need. A rigorous open curriculum with small class sizes permitting house for significant professor relationships, aggressive athletics that will advance my swim profession, a number of the most well-rounded, personable folks, the chance to discover the 5 faculty consortium, and a developed city to do actions with mates.

Why did you select to be a Division III student-athlete?
I selected to be a Division III student-athlete as a result of it allowed me to take part in all the pieces I needed to do in faculty. I may take a completely loaded course schedule whereas practices are positioned outdoors of these instances, and I can take part in golf equipment and analysis on campus.

You have a clean canvas, paint your good day. What does it appear to be?
My good day could be a heat Sunday within the fall or spring. It would begin with a peaceable stroll throughout the Val quad to breakfast with shut mates. After that, I’d have a exercise with my teammates, adopted by attending a recreation, almost certainly soccer, baseball, or rugby. I’d return to Val for lunch with a special group of mates, then spend the afternoon taking part in intramural basketball with the swim crew. I’d finish the day with a film and wings evening with the swim crew, all collectively.

What is your dream job/profession?
My dream job could be a physician as a result of I’d like to have the power to provide my family and friends peace of thoughts with medical challenges.

Looking again in your faculty years, what are you most happy with?
I’m most happy with breaking a crew document and turning into essentially the most improved swimmer in my sophomore yr regardless of being a most popular walk-on at the start of my faculty swim profession and sick for half that season.

What’s your go-to warmup tune?
March Madness – Future

What has been your favourite class?
My favourite class was 1968: Shut It Down with Professor Stefan Bradley, which centered on the Civil Rights Movement of the Nineteen Sixties. I loved it a lot as a result of we took a deeper dive into the hardships and sacrifices that Black Americans endured within the struggle for equal rights. Reading first-person accounts, analyzing FBI surveillance data, and tracing the behind-the-scenes political negotiations that formed the motion supplied new a stage of understanding, far past the tales I had heard from household and my schooling rising up. The course strengthened my bond with my father, who was born in 1955 and grew up in the course of the motion. Many of his views on sure matters started to make way more sense, and it created extra significant conversations between us in the course of the semester and afterward.

Who is your favourite professor?
I used to be lucky to take Microeconomics with Professor Baisa throughout my sophomore yr. He made the course difficult and deeply thought-provoking, basing our studying on drawback fixing moderately than memorizing the textbook which made it a lot extra pleasing. Even when drawback units felt overwhelming, he was at all times out there to assist and went out of his strategy to help college students. It was clear he genuinely needed us to succeed, even providing 1-on-1 workplace hours. He gave me a powerful basis that made the remainder of my economics coursework manageable.

What internships/analysis tasks have you ever participated in? 
Two summers in the past, I labored within the Office of Global Research on the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the place I labored on making the grant launch course of for worldwide analysis extra environment friendly. I carried out the primary analyses to determine which international locations skilled the longest approval timelines, serving to our crew higher determine the important thing bottlenecks inside the clearance course of.

Last summer season, I labored at Bain & Company as a consulting intern, the place I supported my crew in growing a strategic plan to assist a producing shopper obtain its EBITDA targets. I discovered a lot in regards to the manufacturing business, professionalism, and collaborative work streams.

What is the best lesson you’ve discovered from being a student-athlete?
The biggest lesson I’ve discovered from being a student-athlete has been tips on how to navigate complicated interpersonal relationships and develop into a greater teammate and good friend. Being on a crew at Amherst, the place folks come from extremely various backgrounds and steadiness lecturers, athletics, and private commitments in a different way, has taught me that help appears to be like totally different for everybody. I’ve discovered to hear extra, talk with empathy, and acknowledge what motivates or challenges every particular person. The crew has proven me how vital it’s to group via understanding, persistence, and energy.

What is your favourite place in your campus, why?
My favourite place on campus is the Greenway dormitories. Last yr, our swim crew had a set there, and it turned the go-to spot for hanging out, poker nights, and films. Additionally, the house is stuffed with pure gentle, and for those who discover the appropriate spot, you possibly can even set your self as much as watch the soccer or baseball video games taking place proper outdoors.