Meet Amos Tuwei ’19, known as Zeus among his friends. Find out about is hometown, his interests, his plans for Amherst and more!
Tell me about where are you from?
I am from Kenya, to be more specific a medium sized town to the West of Kenya called Eldoret. Most of its population is made up of youth due to an increasing number of institutes of higher education being put up. This is probably the cause of most of its vibrant culture. It’s a pretty fun place and I am really looking forward to going back there during the summer.
How does the weather at Amherst compare to the weather back home?
I would probably say the winter is colder while the summer is warmer (though this might be due to the humidity), At home, things were pretty simple, I rarely/never had to check the weather forecast in order to decide what to put on. The concept of wind-chill was pretty foreign as well as the entire idea of having distinct seasons so it was definitely really fun for me when I saw my first snowflakes falling out of the sky.
Why did you choose to attend Amherst?
The main factor would probably be financial aid. Amherst offered me financial aid, which was not comparable to that of any other school that accepted me. (Very few schools are need blind to International Students)
A secondary reason would be my general curiosity in experiencing life in the United States. which led to me apply to a school in the States and attending Amherst was one of the ways in which I could have such an experience.
What are you interested in both academically and leisurely?
Academically I am interested in Math, Economics and Computer Science. Learning how to code has always been one of my childhood fantasies and I can do it here so why not. As for Math and Economics, I developed an interest in the two sectors since I was in elementary and therefore I have been continuing down the same path.
During my leisure, I work at the Mead Museum (which is a great place, I encourage all of you to check it out) I am also on the rugby team as well as the Equestrian team. I also inline skate as a hobby.
What are you passionate about the most?
I enjoy making real connections with people and finding about their stories, which happen to be quite different from mine as well. And just learning about the cross-cultural differences and trying to speculate how they came about; provides quite an intellectually stimulating experience.
What are your plans for the rest of your time at Amherst and beyond:
To be honest, I have not yet thought out that far ahead.
If you could make one change to the world, playful or serious, what would it be?
I would make the strawberry milkshakes at Schwemms free :-)
What’s something you’ve always wanted to say but never got the chance to say it?
Growing up in my country, I did not really think of race. Making friends was not an issue of which race one belongs to but rather other factors such as mere exposure or similar interests. Coming here, this is something I am constantly made aware of. I have not yet figured out a way of reacting to this but intuitively this does not seem right. I should not have some of my friends feeling uncomfortable around some of my other friends based on the colour of one’s skin. I think that this needs to change and we should all coexist comfortably with each other.