Meet Neal “Smokey” Schutt! He’s a 4th year architecture major, hailing from Holland, Michigan. Living off campus now, but still maintaining strong bonds with his beloved 3A O’Neill section mates. He’s an Aquarius who prefers fresh water beaches to salt water beaches. He’s also a huge proponent of long and frequent naps. Let’s take a few minutes to learn some more about this archie.
Alright Neal, what are 3 “off the cuff” life aspirations of yours?
1. After I retire, I want to open up a small sandwich shop and call it Sandwich and Sandwich and have all of my grandkids work and hang out there.
2. Owning my own architecture firm
3. Having a nice family
As an architecture student here, you spent all of last year in Rome:
How did it change you?
It’s really made me appreciate authenticity. There are just so many like cheaply made things in America and people settle a lot. I just kind of hate chain restaurants and big box stores now. Rome also taught me how important it is to slow down and appreciate things outside of school, sometimes there are just more important things than acing every test or paper.
Best places you travelled or a favorite story?
We were in Hamburg, Germany for New Year’s and I witnessed the craziest fireworks display I had ever seen. It wasn’t so much of a fireworks show put on by the city of Hamburg, as it was just a gathering of a ridiculous amount of German people shooting off fireworks in all directions. I think it was the first time I’d ever seen a firework shot at a downward angle. It was a combination of being really beautiful because I’d never seen so many fireworks going off at the same time, and just comically terrifying. It honestly looked like a riot at one point during the night, there was so much smoke and explosions going off everywhere and people running around.
I was in Berlin at a hostel bar with my two best friends from home and it was packed, so we just found an empty spot at a table with some Russian girls who were super attractive but only one of them could speak any English at all. So, it just became kind of awkward and we only really tried to talk to them like every fifteen minutes. The situation was made even more awkward and hilarious because my buddy just kept asking me quietly, “Should we bring up the Cold War?” so we were all laughing hysterically and these poor Russian girls had no idea what was going on.
What do you miss the most?
I just miss the little cafes, the coffee, wine, and food, and all of the beautiful spaces.
So you live off-campus now with all guys from your freshman year section, and I think it’s safe to say that your section community is one of the strongest on campus, some would even call it an O’Neill 3A Culture, could you give us some insight on it?
I would just describe it as dudes. It’s honestly just a bunch of guys that hang out pretty much exclusively with each other drinking beers and being dumb. But it’s a great environment; I think it says it all that all eight of my housemates now, lived with me in 3A as freshmen.
The gentlemen of 3A
So, what are your feelings on bananas?
I think everyone should appreciate them while they are still around. It’s just a great snack all packaged by itself by nature, really the most accommodating peel of all, while also being nutritious and delicious.
Let’s talk about being an Archie, a very mysterious major that few non-archies encounter on campus…
Why did you choose it? I wanted to be an architect basically all my life. I was big into Legos as a kid and had architecture books/kits as long as I can remember.
Are there any common misconceptions?
Actually, it’s hilarious how much we match stereotypes sometimes. There’s this video “things architects say” that pretty much just sums us up – we think we’re super artsy, we drink too much coffee, spend too much time in studio, work weird hours, and buy obscure drawing utensils that we don’t need just because we have a weird love for any and all art supplies.
Have you ever slept in Bond? I’ve not slept in Bond all night plenty of times.
So, let’s end on some fun stuff:
What’s your two cents view on pick up lines?
I pretty much feel the only pick-up line anybody should ever use is “can I get you a beer?”. That’s really all you need to get a conversation started.
What are some things you looked for in a girl?
Someone who’s down to earth and real. Someone you can have an actual conversation with. My instinct has always been to go for the girl in the goofy Halloween costume over the overtly sexy costume.
So, Audrey Hephurn’s a goofy costume right?
Thanks for the interview, Neal!
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All images courtesy of interviewee