Name: Chukwukpee Nzegwu
Hometown: Silver Spring, Maryland
Major(s): Political Science, Economics
Campus involvement: VOB, VUT, Vandy Radio, Moore Student Government, Acfee, PIKE, African Student Union, Vanderbilt Association of Hispanic Students, VSVS, Research Assistant in the Political Science department, Vanderbilt Debate (elementary school judge), Incoming RA in Moore College
You’re so involved, how do you find time to do all of this and still have time to sleep?
I strive to go to bed between 10 and 12 each day, and wake up between 6 and 8 in the morning. I’m a morning person, so the later I stay up the worse my mood is, but the earlier in the day that I get up, the happier I am – it’s weird, cause it’s the opposite of most people. I try to work on time management really well, managing homework, clubs and meetings, and just trying to get everything done all in one. It’s hard but if you have the determination you can make it happen.
Tell us about your radio show?
The radio show is actually one of my favorite things I’ve been doing here at Vandy. I’ve been doing it since three days before the first day of Freshman year, and its actually the longest running radio show on Vandy Radio. Alex Slawson and I are the host of Monday Minds, which is on every Monday at 8PM. What we talk about really depends on who we bring in to interview. We interview vast array of students, faculty and members from outside of the faculty, and I think it’s been a really rewarding experience – going ahead and butting heads with all these people and these ideologies of life, and its really just been keeping Alex and I on our toes. One of our favorite ones was talking with Farishtay, who organized the Islam protest, and we really grilled her and she grilled us. We learned alot about Islam and how its received in the world. Radio is not a dead medium, and it’s an awesome way to communicate with people.
Have you always done theater? Why did you choose to be in two different theater groups?
My high school’s theater program came back Senior year, and I figured why not. It was Grease, and it was an absolute blast. It was actually my first experience of musical theater. Then I came to Vanderbilt, and my VUceptor was the president of Vanderbilt Off Broadway, and they were doing Grease too. I figured why not, I’ll do it again! I reprised my role of Vince Fontaine, and it was a very fun experience and I met a whole bunch of really fun people. This year, I joined Vanderbilt University Theater, which is mainly focusing on acting and theatricals, the difference is that there’s just less singing and less dancing. It lets you focus as an actor, and I thought it was really rewarding playing in Much Ado About Nothing. I realized that I can’t sing very well with all the talented people at Vanderbilt, so VUT is a bit better for me.
What’s your favorite thing about Vanderbilt?
I think one of my favorite things about Vanderbilt is that there are a lot of good people who really want to try and sit down and take the time to get to know you. I think its hard when everyone is so busy, and sometimes you’ve got to schedule people in for lunch and breakfast and stuff, but it’s always worthwhile. These people are the coolest people from all walks of life. Going on ASB, I got to meet 9 other really cool people, and it was a rewarding experience that I would love to do again. I think that Vanderbilt draws people from all over the place that are passionate about their own things, and when you bring all these people that are so passionate, you create a more involved environment – a better environment. Vanderbilt is creating a new crop of leaders here, and that’s why I love it, and that’s why I want to be a part of it.