This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Princeton chapter.
Major: Comparative Literature (German and French) with Certificates in the Dept of Theatre and Dance and the Creative Writing Program (Poetry)
Residential College: Butler College
Eating Club / Sorority / Extracurricular Activities: Terrace F. Club, Glee Club, Tiger Magazine, Theater (Intime, Shakespeare, thesis productions)
Favorite class you took at Princeton?
Very hard to say what was my fav. Have to give a shoutout to one class I took for credit, the CEE 201 course by Prof. Billington… what a fantastic lecturer. I was just PDFing but loved learning all about those darn bridges. I really, really loved a class I took my senior year in the German department, taught by Arndt Wedemeyer, called Germans In Pain: An Aesthetics of Discomfort. It sounds terribly dry, but was really fascinating, engaging, and actually wound up tying into work I was doing on my friend Joe’s thesis play, so the whole class came and saw it and I was able to write about the playwright and incorporate what we’d learned. It’s great when extracurricular learning intersects with classes, it makes you understand how the classes can be relevant outside of the room.
How was your Princeton experience?
I loved every minute of going to Princeton. I felt so grateful to be there, especially as another kid from Westchester county. I was a public school honor roller, didn’t really know why I got lucky enough with all the private schools in my area applying to be considered, so I never took it for granted that I’d get in, and sort of carried that with me from day one until I graduated. I took advantage of everything I could while I was there, the classes, the experiences, and I wouldn’t do anything differently. I’m really lucky, though, it’s not always the easiest place to be, and I know a lot of people who didn’t have as charmed an experience as I did.
You mention in “The Ivy League Hustle” that you’re a M.F.A (mother effing artist); what’s your life like as an artist?
Being an artist is constantly fighting your anxiety, over where you’ll get your money to live, if you’re making the right life choices, if you should scrap it and take a new direction. It’s very amorphous and self indulgent in a lot of ways. But many things are self indulgent, and if you truly feel being an artist is your calling, it’s up to you to see that through. So that’s what I’m trying to do, anxiety attacks and all.
How much of “The Ivy League Hustle” is a real testament to your work life/love life?
All of the “Hustle” is true, except that I don’t really go on many dates with Whartonites. I did once in high school, and that sort of inspired that part of it. LA isn’t renowned for its intellectual elitism, so if I avoid saying I went to Princeton, it’s more because it makes people assume I think I’m better than them, which I don’t. I don’t like to bring the conversation to a screeching halt. These days I don’t hem and haw about admitting where I went to school with a date, I try to get it out of the way fast so it’s not a big fuss. Plus I don’t really want to date anyone not intellectually secure enough to handle that, anyway. I do make most of my money tutoring, and don’t make a lot of money acting. Hoping that will change sometime, and until then, I keep hustling and self-producing.
How did you get into comedy?
I don’t like waiting around for something to happen, and I always liked writing funny things (I wrote for Tiger Mag a few years when I was at Princeton). I started writing songs and taught myself ukulele during a bout of unemployment since I didn’t want to pay anyone to accompany me, so now I have a whole bunch of songs I get to sing around town. I like that I can make a video of something I found funny in my head and then it’s out there in the world as a solid, concrete thing. Being creative in any way makes me feel alive and thriving, so it’s really important for me to have an outlet, and that outlet has become mostly comedy. (I did mostly drama in college, interestingly enough… always played rape victims. My mom always wondered why I wasn’t doing comedy, so, this is for you, Ma!)
Your Dating Survival Guide is incredibly helpful (particular “The Intellectual” edition) and is definitely our favorite. Which one of your pieces (article or video) is your personal favorite?
I feel very close to all the stuff I write and make, since I won’t put it into the world without my stamp of approval. I’m weirdly proud of this postmodern analysis I wrote about Rebecca Black when the friday video was so huge… it was super nerdy but pretty apt. I also liked the Ten things we learned from Bond Girls, because it inspired me to make a whole web series that I have on my channel, World’s Worst Bond Girl.
Who is your favorite comedian?
I feel a special kinship with Madeline Kahn. She could combine the highbrow with the ridiculous in a way that I just love (and totally steal in at least one of my most popular uke songs with the coloratura soprano singing)
What advice do you give to anyone hoping to break into your field?
Can’t really advise anyone yet, since I don’t consider myself fully “broken in”, but I would advise people to have a really solid talent they can make flexible money with so they don’t have to be a wage slave and can remain creatively active. If you fall into a survival job that sucks all the life from you, you won’t be doing what you’re trying to “survive” to do, and that’s a terrible time.
Last question, favorite Princeton alum?
Michelle Obama! Or Sotomayor. Inspiring ladies.