Sherman Ave Homecoming Court Interviews: Alexandria Bobbitt
In the past two weeks Sherman Ave has interviewed the 12 members of Northwestern’s 2015 Homecoming Court to have them reflect on their Northwestern experience, why spiders make the best sandwiches, and their top eleven belly flops of all time.
In this installment we talk with Alexandria Bobbitt about the birds and the bees, bloomin' onions, and ignore obvious time-travel paradoxes of giving advice to your freshman self.
Clint Taurus: So, tell us what you’re involved with on campus.
Alexandria Bobbitt: So I’m involved in House on the Rock which is a Christian ministry under intervarsity, and NCE, Northwestern Community Ensemble. Those are like the main things I’m involved in this year, as a senior.
CT: Now what are you studying?
AB: I’m studying human development and psychological services.
CT: In the old SESP, yeah. [Editor’s note: Clint Taurus knows about SESP only because he has been forcefully removed from Annenberg Hall] We have a lot in common, we’re both from the south side of Chicago and we were both in SESP.
Sparky Brownwhistle: What’s your proudest moment been at Northwestern so far?
AB: Proudest moment, whoah...whoah… [Alexandria becomes despondent as moments of pride flash before her eyes].
Reverend Doctor Dee Dee Turlington, Esquire, Attorney at Law: It’s one of those questions that pops up in interviews like this and nobody ever has an answer.
SB: It’s like, “Yeah, I’ve been ashamed of everything I’ve done at Northwestern.”
AB: I don’t know if I can say that there’s one moment but I would go back to the conversations I’ve been able to have with people, the conversations that have really meant a lot to me. I guess just making time for those conversations on a busy campus. Just the time I’ve spent with people have been really great moments. With House on the Rock, every moment I’ve seen us become more of a family.
[Editor in Chief of Sherman Ave brings some tea to poor CT.]
DD: He’s our butler.
CT: Anyway, you were a PA for two years. D you have any good PA memories or funny PA stories? AB: I think the best thing about being a PA is the fact that you’re the first person they meet as soon as they come here and you’re the person who gets to sit through a lot of awkward silences with them as they kind of figure out things that are going on.
SB: What do you think would make you a good homecoming queen?
AB: I feel like I got really lucky—I don’t know who nominated me.
CT: Reverend Turlington did.
AB: Oh, thank you so much. I’ve never met you before. But I don’t know, I think there are so many people who could be homecoming queen on our campus. Nothing makes me so much more special or better but I’m really honored to have the opportunity to even be here. I never thought that would happen. I think what would make me a good homecoming queen is I love Northwestern. I love this school and I love the people on this campus. I have had a great 3 years here, looking forward to year four. If I win, I want everyone to win with me. All the other queens out there.
CT: So you would want a queen squad?
AB: Queen squad! Yes!
CT: That’s what we call ourselves. When we hang out.
SB: What’s on your senior year bucket list?
AB: One of the things on my sr year bucket list is to have more fun. And to get off campus.
DD: So going off of that, I read on your bio on the homecoming website that this is your “Why not?” year.
AB: Yes!
DD: So, for example, “Why not do something crazy fun?” What is the most craziest funniest thing you’ve ever done at NU?
AB: Oh, gosh. I would have to say that one time I didn’t go to class but I told my teacher it was because I wasn’t feeling well but really I was fine. I just stayed in my bed and stared at my wall.
SB: Do you regret it?
AB: Not at all. I feel really good about it?
CT: What class was it?
AB: Dang, is she going to read this?
CT: Honestly, no. Unless it’s Renee.
AB: It was my Latino studies class.
CT: Oh, they don’t read Sherman Ave because I’m a part of it.
DD: So going off your theme of “Why not?”, Why not do a primal scream right now?
AB: Let’s do it.
CT: Should we all lock arms? Okay, so on the count of 3. After 3. 1, 2, 3.
(They all scream primally, it startles a nearby Walter Klondike™).
SB: As someone studying human development can you explain the birds and the bees to me?
AB: Um. So I think the best way to explain it...man. So. I think the best way to explain it is not to explain it at all. I think you just find yourself in a place and you see the birds and you see the bees and then a baby comes.
CT: You’re gonna give me no knowledge whatsoever?
SB: Should I just start poking around on the internet? Just start typing stuff in?
AB: You can type in “birds and bees,” but still nothing that comes up will help you.
(SB googles “birds and bees”)
SB: Oh, you’re right, this doesn’t help.
(SB scrolls down a bit)
DD: I don’t know, that’s pretty helpful.
SB: Yeah, these guys are having a fuck.
AB: Oh yeah, that’s pretty accurate, actually.
SB: So this is it?
AB: The bird is, basically, gonna hug the bee really tight.
SB: With its wing?
AB: Yep.
SB: Ok, and where does baby come from?
AB: Baby just appears. It’s like magic, just poof.
SB: Bee looks scared. Why is bee scared?
AB: It can be scary, that’s why you have to look before you leap.
SB: Ok, so I’m going to keep looking at pictures of birds and bees.
AB: I think you’ve seen all you need to see. You just have to trust.
SB: Now that we’ve covered that, as soon as you’re crowned homecoming queen, you’re allowed to make one official decree that all of Northwestern has to obey.
DD: They don’t tell you about it, but we know. We know.
CT: We’ve been doing these interviews for a while, so we get the skinny on it.
AB: What you do is you tap your sceptre on the ground and you say, “I decree…” and then you can make one decree. What is your decree?
AB: I decree that everyone gets one day a week off. Like, completely off.
CT: Nice.
AB: Like, a day to do nothing. Too many people are way too busy.
SB: So, like, a day to stop and stare at the wall?
AB: Well, if you need to!
CT: So, we get like an extra weekend day.
AB: I think everyone should have Fridays off. I haven’t had class on a Friday in two years.
DD: Wow. You are lucky you’ve been able to avoid that.
CT: I usually only have one class on Fridays and it’s only a discussion. It’s manageable. The only thing I ever have to discuss with people is, “TGIF.”
SB: And your plans to head down to TGI Friday’s and get some appetizers.
CT: But we do like Outback Steakhouse, the official restaurant of Sherman Ave.
AB: Why is that your official restaurant?
DD: We like it. They still have trans fats in their Bloomin’ Onions, it’s great.
AB: To be honest, I don’t really know anything about Outback, but I love Longhorn.
CT: Longhorn’s great.
SB: Why do you think Northwestern is refusing to recognize me as a homecoming king candidate?
AB: Because you’re not eligible…
SB: I filled out the paperwork. I wrote on the paper and then I put it under a door and I think I should be eligible but I haven’t been contacted. Sherman Ave hasn’t interviewed me.
AB: That was...not the right thing to do.
CT: You really screwed up.
SB: Well, I’m gonna make good on it next year. What advice would you give a freshman?
AB: My advice would be to really enjoy your time here. It goes by fast, so really do what you can to slow things down for yourself and to enjoy the moment and live in the moment. We’re always racing to get to the next thing, the next year, the next class, or the next whatever, and we miss so much in between.
CT: That’s great advice. On that note, to try to flip the script a little: you’re a senior now and you seem very reflective. What advice would you give yourself as a freshman? If you could go back in time to talk to freshman you and say, “Hey Alex, I’m from the future, don’t worry about it,” what would you say?
AB: I would tell myself something very similar. As a freshman, I was expecting things to happen quickly: have a group of friends quickly, to know what I wanted to do quickly, and to adapt and be great quickly. When you come from high school, you think, “I’m grown, I can take care of myself,” but I got here and all of that was wrecked. So be patient with yourself, because things take time. It’s a process, and you have to lean into the process. The process isn’t always going to feel good, but trust that something wonderful is being produced during it. So, be patient with yourself. I think I’m still telling myself that senior year. Now, I’m about to be a full-fledged adult and I have to make decisions and do these things, but it’s still a process.
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