Need something to peak your interest during exams? Study this Renaissance man. He’s a Mechanical Engineer, an entrepreneur, and the easiest guy to get to know. So take some advice from this week’s Campus Cutie and schedule in some down time to get to know him more.
Name: Celso White
Hometown: Wilton, Connecticut
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Relationship Status: Complicated
Campus Involvement: Founder of Kuumba, WUSLAM, and Hip Hop Week
Hobbies and interests: hip hop, photography, bike riding, and Thai food
Favorite Hip Hop Artist: Blu
Favorite New Music: Tuneyards
Favorite food: sweet gummy stuff, like Dots
Which Dots do you eat first? The red ones
Favorite TV shows: Fringe. It’s so good. I watch it on Hulu. You should check it out!
Favorite word: Bacalao (Portuguese for codfish!)
Weird food obsession: Wasabi. If I have sushi, a bunch of wasabi’s going on there. I love the burn and I love the taste.
Flash mob or jousting?
Flashmob. I’ve filmed one, but never did one.
I heard you studied abroad in Brazil. That sounds incredible! Tell me about it.
Yeah, it was great I went my sophomore year spring semester and that’s actually how I got into photography. I did an independent work project and traveled with a youth drum band of 15 kids. We traveled all around the city, followed social movements, and marched.
What kind of music was it?
Samba.
What’s a piece of advice you’d give to the underclassman?
Enjoy this while you have it.
What’s the best class you’ve taken at WashU?
My experience in Brazil was the best class. It’s like we’re brain fed here to take notes about issues in order to learn. In Brazil, I went to talk to people and meet people that are actually experiencing it. Learning is a lot more than just books. I’m not into memorizing stuff. I believe real learning happens when you talk to people, because you can’t manipulate it.
How do you deal with the stress of finals?
Laughs. I chill as hard as possible. I set a plan for the day. I have all my meetings and my time to relax in my schedule. You got to have some relaxation that in the schedule, it’s just not healthy not too.
What’s one of your favorite things on the loop?
Bubble tea’s peach snow.
With or without tapioca balls?
Without.
What’s the most underrated element about WashU?
Some events are so underrated. We had a Middle Eastern hip-hop week on campus and it was incredible, justevents in general.
If you could switch the bunny statue on campus with something else for a day, what would it be?
A taco truck, just like they have in California.
If you could add anything to menu at Ibby’s , what would it be and why?
Pad Thai, it has to be hooked up though.
Fun summer plans?
Be in Chicago this summer doing a little engineering internship in the systems department. It will be cool because I’ll be able to use other skills like creativity.
Sounds fun. Have you had any other creative internship in the past?
Yeah, I worked in business development at BadBoy records when I was in high school up until I was a sophomore in college. I worked on expanding Diddy as s brand seeing where he could go next: Sean John, Proactive, etc. I also helped setup the Brooklyn festival. It was a great place to work the vibe was really cool.
Did you ever get to meet Diddy?
Yep, he’s an interesting guy.