Heather Riggs::  All right. Go ahead.
Nicolas Schapira::  My name is Nicolas Schapira, class of 2001 and I currently live in New York City.
Heather Riggs::  Awesome. All right, so is there something specific that you want to talk about?
Nicolas Schapira::  Not particularly, whatever questions you might have.
Heather Riggs::  All right, one of the things I’m curious about is, what brought you to Grinnell?
Nicolas Schapira::  It was interesting, because coming from, I was living in New York City at the time, and a bunch of my classmates were all obsessed with staying on the east coast and, or going to state school. Mostly because people felt it was more affordable, and state schools in New York are pretty good. I wanted to separate myself from everybody else, and I wanted to have a completely different experience than a large university. I went to a huge high school. My graduating class was 1,000 kids, so I just wanted something completely different. So instead I was looking at some of the view books that were, that I was getting sent after the SATs and PSATs came out and I got Grinnell and I said, “Ooh, Iowa! Nobody would believe I would go there!” and so I applied and they came back, they offered me pretty good financial aid package and they offered to fly me over.
Nicolas Schapira::  When I came here, it was spring waltz. It was that first nice weekend of the year. Everybody was the happiest that they could have possibly have been. People were outside. They were dancing in the streets, on Mac Field, and it really made me think, “This is a great place that I want to spend my next four years at.” Granted, I didn’t get to see winter at the time, but all things considered, that experience I had that weekend, plus the financial aid plus everything else really made me feel as if it were a unique experience from my high school- that- what I had in high school. I was really excited to come when I visited.
Heather Riggs::  Yeah. What were your first memories of Grinnell?
Nicolas Schapira::  First memories was that Prospie weekend, sitting in a van coming from the airport, I met three people who ended up being my friends all through Grinnell and today, one of whom is running around campus at the moment. But, it was all of us from all different parts; we were from Chicago, New York, DC, and we were all just taking about our high school experiences and it was funny because we all had similar feelings. We all wanted to cut the proverbial umbilical cord, have a completely different set of experiences and I remember thinking, “These are the type of people I want to spend time with.” And over the years just how we fomented relationships just really always stands out in my mind and really to me epitomizes the Grinnell experience.
Heather Riggs::  Yeah. That's great. Was there a professor, student, or staff member during your time here that had a strong influence on you?
Nicolas Schapira::  Yeah, there were two, both of whom were fellow students. One, her name was Jessie Isomoto class of ’98. She was an Education major at Grinnell. She ended up becoming- doing Education Program- for whatever reason she chose not to go into the classroom after she finished her program, instead got a job at Teach for America, and so when I graduated, I needed a job and I wanted to go into the nonprofit sector, and so she hooked me up with a temp job there. I worked there doing random odd administrative things, but after talking with her and talking with all the other alums that were working with Teach for America as an organization, I really became motivated towards their mission, insofar as ensuring educational opportunities for all types of students. And so, that really very much led me to join the program or to apply for it. And then I got in and then I became a teacher teaching Bilingual Special Ed. in the South Bronx.
Heather Riggs::  Wow.
Nicolas Schapira::  And, being able to talk to her throughout that process, and her really motivating me to do that, Teach for America ended up being one of the most powerful life experiences I’ve ever had. All the things that make me the person who I am today was influenced by that, and it was all because of somebody out – she was four years ahead of me. I only knew her for one year here. But we kept in touch over the years and she was always supporting me and telling me you should do these types of things because you have the personality for it. That really got in my whole career trajectory, as well as really fomenting who I am and what my passions are and how I express those passions.
Nicolas Schapira::  She was one. Another one on a similar vein was Carlos Eduardo Mercias. He was class of ‘90... no, ’99 and he was very instrumental in really pushing me to be a leader. He saw I was committed. He saw I had passion. He was really the first person that said, “You have the passion. You have some raw talent. These are the types of things you can and should do in order to foment and build yourself up.” So he really pushed me into leadership, community leadership, and really focusing on what ended up being my commitment to social justice, specifically with the Latino community but also overall. So those two individuals who have continually supported me and always been people for me to bounce off of, really have most positively impacted me.
Heather Riggs::  What are your best or strongest memories of your time at Grinnell?
Nicolas Schapira::  The rand– and this is very trite, but the random conversations you have about the most random things. The fact that, it’d be two in the morning, we all have papers due the next day and then we’re frustrated about something, and then we just start talking. We would go from talking about mundane professors or classes to then moving over and saying, saying,"This is what’s wrong with things here. This is how it affects us in a society, and this is what society has- This is how we experience society." Having those types of conversations and saying, "We wanna make change. We wanna influence change." And then really starting to get together as groups. One of the things, one of those conversations that I ended up having, ended up in the creation of a nonprofit that we started when we were still students. It was based out of Des Moines working with Latino youth and at-risk Latino youth.
Nicolas Schapira::  It was those series of conversations that we had over the course of 2 or 3 years that really allowed us to come together and really say, "We’re tired of talking about this. Let’s do something," and the fact that that happens so often here and in so many ways is one of the most potent experiences I had, and one of the major reasons why I would always tell somebody you should go there, because only here do you end up having those types of conversations. Not only are you talking about what you’re learning in class but you’re also thinking about, "Well, what does this really mean?" And that wasn’t a level of conversation I ever had even before and after. Just those academic, intensive pseudo-philosophical conversations, 'cause they ended up really being practical. So those are some of my potent, most potent memories that I really look fondly on.
Heather Riggs::  How do you feel like Grinnell fostered that spirit of activism?
Nicolas Schapira::  I think it all boiled down to self-governance. The idea is, you are empowered to do whatever you wanna do. But we’re not gonna do it for you! So the idea is, for example there was... In order for any community irrespective of what your basis was, so for example, be it at, quote-on-quote- not esoteric, that’s not the word I want to use. Be it something at- artsy, like for example crochet. I know there’s a huge crocheting club that ended up growing and growing because somebody crocheted and wanted to show others how to crochet. So doing something as practical as that, and then looking at the multicultural groups on campus, which I was a huge part of during my four years here, and looking at well, "Here’s a community. What as a community do you wanna do?" You can either just do social things. You can do activist things. You can raise questions to each other and to the campus as a whole, and really having the freedom because nothing was implemented from administration other than, "Here’s some money. Do stuff with it," but you have to ask for it first.
Nicolas Schapira::  Those processes really forced you to say, "OK, so first what op I wanna do? How am I gonna get money for it, and then how am I gonna implement it make it worthwhile for everyone?" And those, that spirit of what Grinnell fomented so far as you can do whatever you want, really empowered that sense of, "OK, if we’re gonna do something, what will that mean?" And then you have to talk and converse and end up being very active. And the thing about it is once one group gets active, it’s, it’s the proverbial sense of nothing attracts a crowd like a crowd, right? So you have one crowd of people doing something, and you always think, "Hey, I can do that, too, about something that matters to me." So once you have that one group that’s active, and on some levels it was something as simple as the student body, Student Government. Once you have SGA that implements policy in some way, shape or form for the student body, there’s always gonna be another group of, "I wanna do something else." And that really fosters it.
Nicolas Schapira::  I think it all boils down to the student governance and the SGA because those really influenced us specifically in the communities that I was a part of saying, "We’re going to do something different because what they’re doing isn’t stuff that caters to my likes. It’s not gonna happen unless I say, and/or do something." So that was one of my favorite things about Grinnell, is that I was really empowered to essentially do whatever crazy ideas I wanted so long as I could convince people to do it with me. So it really foments leadership, which I loved about my experience.
Heather Riggs::  How- in what other ways did self-governance impact your life?
Nicolas Schapira::  We got to assist in the hiring of all faculty and staff, so I, we were part of a larger, like for example I was a Poli Sci major, so whenever they brought in- I don’t wanna say temporary ‘cause I don’t remember what the term is. Sorry, I forgot all the acronyms. Whenever they bring a staff member to do a presentation, we got to go and write feedback. "Do we want this person here or not?" So it really gave me a sense of, "I’m empowered to figure out what type of education I want," which was fabulous to me. I was also part of the, a student committee that hired student staff- I mean, sorry, RLCs. So, I would go to some of the conventions around the area and then do interviews and do interviews here, and really engaged in saying, "This is the type of person that when I’m at the lowest of the low I wanna go talk to with my problems." So- be it tiny or large.
Nicolas Schapira::  So, that was, again, very empowering and that’s all part of the philosophy of student governance. Being able to feel as if I’m empowered – I know I’m abusing the term – to positively affect the community really, really, really enabled me to join these and say, "I wanna do this and I want, not only to make my life better but those of my fellow students better." I think that really- that part of the process was very important to me.
Heather Riggs::  Yeah, that's great. What memories or images do you have of the town of Grinnell?
Nicolas Schapira::  Some of the things I remember most about Grinnell are walking to the Pub, obviously, when I was of age, thank you very much. I never went to the Pub underage. I was one of the few, but I never did. And, all of the sights, thinking... Often-times when I was in the College, to me the town was something to have to go through because, I’m from New York City. It was a huge place and I never really, for most of my time at Grinnell, I never really appreciated the town and what it offered. At one point one of my peers, after they graduated wanted to stick around for a while. So then they, they started working at the Dairy Barn, so that really forced me to go to town a lot more.
Nicolas Schapira::  My senior year, one of my friends moved off-campus and had their own place and it was really an opportunity for me to every day walk out of town, go to the local businesses, see what’s out there. Specifically, I remember when, my senior year, I think Saint’s Roast is the name of the place, when it opened up and it was a great cute café that had more than just a bunch of college students that I saw all the time. I have fond memories of that, and plus it was a complete different level of coffee than we had here, so. I was never a Bob’s person ‘cause it was too far south for me, I generally was a North Campus person, so it really enabled me to do some of that. Going to the Pub really, also, I remember also talking to a lot of "townies", in quotation marks, but really just seeing some of their experiences.
Nicolas Schapira::  The other things I really liked is being able to go off-campus and visit professors at their houses whenever they did things for their classes or what-not. The houses here are beautiful. I love the houses. Those are the things I remember the most, more so than even downtown. I remember professor’s houses and where they are. Another powerful memory I have of Grinnell as a town or as an environment was one time, I was part of the Jewish community here on campus and we were decorating the Sukkah and we wanted fruits of harvest so me and a peer took bikes to- biked all the way to a professor’s house. I don’t remember who the professor is. They have a huge ranch and we walk- we pedaled through a gravel road - it was the first time I'd ever pedaled on gravel road - all the way out. It must’ve been like five miles. We went to a huge cornfield which I’d never been on before ‘cause it’s my freshman year, and we started detasseling corn and then taking some of the stalks that were already flat and then we had to ride all the way back.
Nicolas Schapira::  I saw cows, sheep, llamas, alpacas. It was just such a surreal experience for me. 'Cause that, that’s when it really hit me: we’re rural. Because there are some ranches and farms in suburban New York but nothing like here, where it’s just as far as the eye can see. So, that I really enjoyed on some level as well. The only other real memory I have of town is some of the restaurants. Going to China Sea, which one of my friends loved the General Tso’s at China Sea. I never got it but he loved it and swore by it. Even to today, he hasn’t’ been here in twelve years. Going to Café Phoenix, and then some of the pizzerias in town. Really the older I got here, the more I went out into town and saw things and really realized that there is more to Grinnell than just the College. So yeah.
Heather Riggs::  How has Grinnell changed since you were a student?
Nicolas Schapira::  Buildings, buildings, buildings. The JRC is a phenomenal structure, and it really makes me jealous because I was part of a Student Space Committee that helped develop some of the spaces at the JRC and seeing some of those spaces and seeing what they do really, really, really makes me think, "goodness gracious, how things have changed." Other things have changed too. Some of the, I was able here to speak to some students and some of the things about student life have changed. There’s no longer that separation because of the- what, I would not say dormitory. What, oh gosh, cafeteria you ate at, those things have changed.
Nicolas Schapira::  The East Campus, so much changed the dynamic because people say, "This type of person lives there, this type of person-" So what some of those definitions are have changed, but those are all little things that you only care about when you’re at Grinnell, when you’re an undergrad. Once you leave, you’re just like, “Y’know, that was kind of silly.” But, in the interim, or rather, after that and looking back it’s just seeing some of those, how physical structures affect social life in some way, shape or form for better and for worse. That’s in the short, in the one or two days I’ve been here, the most powerful thing is, “Oh my gosh that’s a big building, in the middle of campus and it’s not Darby.” Seeing how that just- experiencing that has been awesome for me, just seeing that type of space and how it changed- how it apparently- it really did change the campus as a whole.
Heather Riggs::  What kind of physical spaces in the JRC did you help to design?
Nicolas Schapira::  The multicultural spaces specifically. I remember talking about how they would integrate with some of the other spaces they were thinking about, like how the cafeteria would be in there for, if you have the cafeteria you need the other separate kitchen spaces so how are those gonna relate to both the multicultural students, ‘cause we used them a lot when we were on campus, as well as, the rest of the campus and how do we make those spaces integrate? And, so I was really involved in some of that conversation, and specific planning of what it’d look like, how big they are, what they would have, talking to architects, looking – and then, that was, that conversation began before the master plan began. So then once the master plan came, it just shifted into high gear and talking to the master planners and everything else and seeing how these are all gonna fit together was a really phenomenal thing for me even though it generally meant 7 AM meetings at Cowles, which, when your earliest class is at noon is a little difficult.
Nicolas Schapira::  But, that was very important for me ‘cause I knew how important some of these spaces were and how important it would be to have these spaces both together and separate, and how important it would be to have- for students to have the opportunity to engage their own cultures in a very different way that wasn’t happening at the Forum. So, that was just awesome and I really wish I would- I was able to enjoy it as a student but I walked by there earlier today and I just, they look phenomenal. They really look phenomenal and I’m very happy that students today get to enjoy that.
Heather Riggs & Nicolas Schapira::  When you were student, how did the geographical layout of campus affect the student life?
Heather Riggs & Nicolas Schapira::  Wow, I can’t believe I just forgot, what’s the name of the street that separates, physically separates all the academic buildings from North Campus?
Heather Riggs & Nicolas Schapira::  8th.
Nicolas Schapira::  8th. 8th was like, complete... They could’ve put a wall there sometimes, it felt, because North and South Campus were so far apart. I spent freshman year on, living in Younker North Campus. Second year I lived on one of the campus houses. Third year I lived in Spanish House; fourth year I’ve lived in Loose. I’ve never felt so separated from most of my friends who are historically North Campus people when I was living in Loose. They never came to visit me, and it was- and I’m like, "OK seriously? I know it’s twenty below... It’s five minutes, not even. Five minutes on your hands and knees, it’s not that far, people."
Nicolas Schapira::  I think we get, we tend to get lazy. We like to have things where they are. One of the reason most of us went to, came to, well, not most of us. One of the major reasons people will go to Grinnell is ‘cause it’s not, you don’t have to drive from one end of campus to the other. But, I feel like that was such an artificial demarcation because the cultures were supposedly so different. They were really weren’t; those lines were always blurry no matter what. Some people just happen to like to have the Loggia available, which is why I went to Loose my senior year. Some people preferred the closeness to Cowles. Some people preferred one dining hall over the other. But I think that always separated the two, and I felt like people enforced that themselves for no good reason, really.
Nicolas Schapira::  While there were people on both North and South Campus I didn’t necessarily like to associate with, it was nothing that deep that really should have meant, “Oh, I’m not going there.” But we, when we’re students, we have these preconceived notions for whatever reason that we like to enforce. And sometimes it was enforced, when I told people I was living in Loose they were like, “ 'Gasp' Noooooooo! I can’t believe you’re going all the way there!” and I was like, “Really? It’s the northern-most one and it’s a really nice dorm. I loved Loose; awesome dorm. Nice rooms, big rooms, four bathrooms per floor. Really there was nothing not to like.
Heather Riggs::  What were your favorite places on campus.
Nicolas Schapira::  Favorite places on campus. That’s hard. I ended up spending a lot of time in ARH, just because a lot of my classes were there. Amazingly enough, I was a Social Science person and half my Social Science classes were always in Noyce, ‘cause the classrooms were nicer. The whole sliding boards thing was just awesome. I loved that. But really, I think, any place where we ended up congregating, I think was the most important thing ‘cause to me when I was here, I loved just spending time with my peers.
Nicolas Schapira::  Spanish House will always have a place in my heart ‘cause even when I wasn’t living there, I always knew someone in Spanish House. So I spent an inordinate amount of time in that specific location, and it was one place I knew I could talk Spanish in. It was the one place where, there was a kitchen where a bunch of us could come together and just be. It had a beautiful living room, a TV, and especially when I was living there, we made it a social hub for our group of friends. People would always know, no matter what time of day, no matter who or what was around, there was always someone to be around. So that will by far have the fondest memory in my heart.
Nicolas Schapira::  The Forum also, because it's one of those places where you knew, "I don’t know where anybody is. I’m gonna go to the Forum, see who’s there." So that was always awesome, especially when I was living on South Campus when I didn’t know where people were, and this was before cell phones on campus so you couldn’t just ask, "Where are you?" You just kinda have to search campus. You always knew there was a couple of places where you could always find people. One of ‘em was ARH in the computer lab, another one was the Forum, another was Spanish House. So those will always have fond places in my heart.
Heather Riggs::  How do you feel your class was distinct from classes before and then classes after it?
Nicolas Schapira::  We were the first large class at Grinnell. I wanna say we had like 300+ our first year, and the class before us was 200-something, so that was the first big jump in so far as the College wanting to become larger so that it can have better and more academic programs to justify their existence. So we, like everybody, I remember from seniors down, they’re like, “You guys are biiiig,” and because the support system wasn’t there yet for our class, a lot of my students ended up – a lot of students from my class left.
Nicolas Schapira::  I wanna say only 280 graduated. There’s a large attrition rate my year. Some of it was people deferring; people took a year off which happens no matter what. But I think we were that first class of the new generation of Grinnell in so far as we were the first class that had the webmail. We were the first class that, where they started changing some of the computer policies and I just feel like a lot of changes occurred during our time.
Nicolas Schapira::  Pam Ferguson left. Russell Osgood came on. We got to see so many changes; the beginning of the Space Committee and the Master Plan. We were, we saw what it was and we saw what it was going to be in many ways, and I feel like that really affected our, not our, our mind – not, mindset isn’t the word I’m looking for but I think it really affected our perspective. ‘Cause we, by the time we were seniors, people were like, “What was VAX?” and those types of things. So they didn’t get to see and appreciate some of the changes that were going on that we got to experience. So I think that was a big deal in many ways for our class.
Heather Riggs & Nicolas Schapira::  Is there, I know you said that there- you couldn’t think of an answer but is there something that was meaningful to you that is no longer available?
Heather Riggs & Nicolas Schapira::  I mean, I was thinking about this earlier and one of the big things that was gone was VAX.
Heather Riggs & Nicolas Schapira::  That was the computer system?
Nicolas Schapira::  That was the computer system, so it was text-based. It was before webmail and that was interesting because for a couple of years Plans didn’t’ exist anymore, and this was pre-Facebook, pre-Myspace, and one of the ways we all kept tabs on each other as far as what was going on for us was on our Plan. And so it was really the first sense of social media on campus and when they VAX went away, a lot of us were lost, so to speak. By the, there were some seniors in my class that really brought it back and made it its current web format. I know it had a completely different genesis which I’m not really sure of at this point, but that was a big deal for us, in so far as what changed. However, it changed for the better, so I’m not gonna complain about that.
Nicolas Schapira::  What’s new for me, completely foreign, is the p-card system where everything’s on one card, and that was kinda weird. ‘Cause I remember when they first put in the proximity cards. Some of us got the stereotypical Grinnell paranoia, like “Now they’re gonna know exactly where I am at any given time ‘cause my card’s associated with me and they’re gonna know if I’m missing class or whatever!” Just stuff that's, at the end of the day, completely ridiculous but it’s what our perspective was in so far as, “They’re always out to get us, and we always have to fight against them!” It was just a fascinating dynamic, but the fact that I’m sure people can no longer cheat the system in so far as, we used to have little plastic chips that we used to spend five dollars on and I think one chip essentially ended up being fifty cents that you would have to push in to do laundry and dry. And so there was a trick with the old washer-dryers that if you had needle-nose pliers, you can push the card in and then yank it out and use the same card over and over again.
Nicolas Schapira::  Almost everybody on campus did it in some way shape or form, but the problem with that is people would do it wrong and the machines would constantly break. So I understand why they moved away from that but it was one of those things where you're just like, "Wow, you spent five dollars for four years of laundry." But, unfortunately y’know, that went away but those were all just small things. I think, if anything might’ve changed that might be upsetting to me in so far as what was and what isn’t, is some of the, some of the student organizations. I know student organizations come and go and how some of them change and the tone change, and I don’t wanna necessarily be specific at the moment but I know the tone of some of the organizations that are here now aren’t what they used to be.
Nicolas Schapira::  That just makes me sad because some of those organizations were vital in my ability to maintain my sanity at Grinnell. Some of the student groups that were really supportive of me and gave me everything I needed when things were rough for me have completely different tones now and don’t do the things they used to do for students, and it’s really upsetting because I know I wouldn’t have survived without it. So seeing, it’s more of, and this always happened, they always talked about it. Because student groups are purely student-based and are run by students, it forces the students to always maintain, not only tradition, but maintain energy, and energy comes and goes based on generation. I’d always heard from, y’know when you graduate, you often keep your finger on the pulse or try to, and just to hear some of the conversation about what certain student groups are like now versus five, ten years ago is somewhat upsetting to me because I know students need those, need those services from each other and they’re just not offering it to each other. That’s just really sad.
Heather Riggs::  How would you compare the students of today with students from- your classmates?
Nicolas Schapira::  It’s hard to say. It, they’re coming from somewhat different places, it’s really, I don’t, I haven’t had as much of an opportunity to speak with new students as I would like. I met a couple yesterday, I met a couple Friday. Some of the difference is, because – people who came to Grinnell when I came to Grinnell came because it was one of the cheapest, best schools in the country and by having some of the policies we have now, despite the fact that many students end up paying less than they would have when I went, there is a certain stigma that attaches to a school that is considered one of the cheapest to one of the more expensive.
Nicolas Schapira::  I think that inherently changes the student body, so the student body, I feel, socioeconomically, is a little different now than it was when I was a student. I’m not, I can’t put judgment down. I don't know if it's better. I don’t know if it’s worse. I just know that it’s different and, therefore, I’m hearing students speak about some of the experiences they have are completely different. A lot of that deals with the student organizations I was talking about, and some of the services that the student organizations used to give them that they don’t.
Nicolas Schapira::  Specifically, what I’ve kept my finger on the pulse for are multicultural groups and the thing that students expressed to me, or the few that I’ve spoken to, is that some of the student groups aren’t as active as they used to be and there isn’t a sense of unity for these groups that there used to be. And one of the things- and that has pluses and minuses to it. I’m not gonna say it’s a bad thing. I have no right to say it’s a bad thing. It's just different and it really does change campus life in even the smallest of ways. So, I think the difference between socioeconomic class on some levels, ‘cause not all, and I think some of the changes in the student groups really defines us differently.
Nicolas Schapira::  I feel like, a majority of us, specifically within the Latino community, were very much, very loud, activist, had bad reputations among the faculty and staff because sometimes we were obnoxious for the sake of being obnoxious but things mattered to us in a specific way. Specifically multicultural affairs mattered to us and I feel like there was a really strong activism. In many cases it was antagonistic and, I know, for better and for worse, that some of that antagonism has dissipated over time, which it has to.
Nicolas Schapira::  I’m gonna admit it wasn’t necessarily best for me that it was so antagonistic. And, some of that activism was such a huge part of our class consciousness. Class being any of the four years that I was there at any given time. And I know that, and from what I’ve heard from students, it’s not that way anymore. Again, its a plus and a minus so I don’t wanna put judgment on it ‘cause I know in the past, I would have. However, it’s just one of those things that’s palpable to me as I’m talking to students ‘cause it’s so different from when I was here.
Heather Riggs::  If you were writing a history of Grinnell College, what events or just social aspects would you include from your time here?
Nicolas Schapira::  Huh, wow. I would... There are a cou- since so much of my experience at Grinnell was based on being a student of color, and so much of my energy and focus was on over- helping students and myself overcome some of those cultural gaps, I would’ve- there are some situations throughout my four years that were very disheartening. Generally, to be perfectly honest and thankfully, I don’t actually remember all the incidents. Some of them I do. It’s not necessarily worth mentioning in any individual instances but the ones I would always wanna focus on were ones where students felt alienated from each other, because it’s always important to see and to note how we failed each other as people.
Nicolas Schapira::  I think there are many, many instances where we served each other well, and those should be contrasted when we didn’t. I feel, it’s always- this is a microcosm of society in some way, shape or form. On, y’know, we are academic elite here and that’s very important to emphasize as well, and, on many levels, we were both very good people to each other and very bad people to each other and that goes for everyone, myself included.
Nicolas Schapira::  I think to fo – to have focuses on those, so that, to emphasize we’re human, we made mistakes and as a society and limited to Grinnell, we should always hope to learn from those experiences. Specifically ones where people said things in an attempt to be humorous and satirical and it almost always failed miserably. And how communication gaps were always central to those issues. I think it’d be very important throughout my four years here to emphasize each and every one of those.
Nicolas Schapira::  One specifically was when, and this is, I think most important, when- I don’t think it was, I think it was a townie, came on campus and spray-painted across various parts of campus anti-Semitic propaganda which was a very unfortunate and powerful experience for us here. That was the first time I really felt unsafe on campus. I had the door – I was living off-campus at the time in a campus-owned house, the first time we- that was when I said "No, doors needs to be locked here now, and I need to lock my room."
Nicolas Schapira::  Only time in my entire four years I ever locked my room. And, on some levels it was very interesting to see how we as a campus community came together and how we didn’t. ‘Cause the thing about campus that always happens is we’re so busy that we come together for a month and then we get overwhelmed by academia. I think, always showing those contrasts and figuring out, and using those to figure out ways how we can assist students as alumni to keep those types of energies going to say "We are solidarity. We are together and respective of whatever cultural differences we have." I think that’s just very important to me.
Heather Riggs::  I don’t have any more questions. Do you have anything else you'd like to add?
Nicolas Schapira::  I always had, when I was here, a love-hate relationship with Grinnell. It was very hard being an urban New Yorker, coming to rural Iowa and it permeated so much of my experience in sometimes very negative ways, in sometimes very positive ways. But I think the most powerful thing for me in so far as how I look back at Grinnell was, when I came back for my last cluster reunion, I sat back and said, “OK, these are all the negative things that lingered over time.” Some of it I took, most of it I ended up having to take- not having to take- I chose to take responsibility for. And I forgave my own experiences here and I think it has allowed me to really, truly appreciate all the wonderful things I had here that I wasn’t able to do when I first graduated ‘cause I had some significantly negative experiences here relating to my fellow students.
Nicolas Schapira::  I think it’s- if there’s anything I would ever wanna leave to any of my peers, either current students or future students is, and/or alumni is, the best thing I ever did insofar as truly being able to appreciate all the wonderful things I experienced here was to forgive the ones that weren’t so nice. Just, for example, the one I just mentioned earlier in so far as the anti-Semitic propaganda, and everything else that happened. I think, it’s always important to appreciate the opportunity I got here because this place really did foment so many good things in me as a human being and it really empowered me to do the other things I did as an adult that really have made me a better human being.
Nicolas Schapira::  I’m a better person for having come here, and being able to look back and say, "There was some good. There was some bad," and overall, it was a very positive experience for me and being able to constantly remember and appreciate that because I didn’t get to do so the last time I visited and I feel like now that I’m here and I’m really looking around and really being able to look much more fondly on things, even when they were miserable experiences. Almost all, many of which were self-inflicted i.e., "Oh, I have a paper tomorrow and I have to write all 12 of them and I have one." Some of those very self-inflicted painful experiences, being able to look back and say, "Wow, that really wasn’t very smart of me," and then being able to also look back and say, "This is where I had this conversation that changed my life in this way or in that way," really gave me a very positive perspective on things. It’s really nice to be able to do that much more in-depth this time around. And, this place is great and I always have to remember all the wonderful things that I did here because I would not be as good a human being as I am now had it not been for my experience at Grinnell
Heather Riggs::  Wow. Well, thanks so much.
