 "Photo: Rachel Adler '12")
The Mac Weekly interviewed housemates: Akshay Sood '12, Ali Bandeali '12, Andrew Ojeda '14 (formerly '12) and Ajwad Imran '12.
TMW: How did you first meet each other?
Ajwad: Me, Akshay and Drew were on Turck 3, and Akshay and I were in a First Year Course together.
Akshay: Drew was the doorman. And Ali just hung out with us. He lived on Turck 2 and he just kept showing up.
Ajwad: Akshay was actually the first one I met at Mac.
Akshay: I had an open-door policy in my dorm room and [Ajwad] was the first kid to show up with his starched collar, looking all neat and proper with his leather shoes. I was like, he looks like such a nice guy.
Ali: Yeah, the first time I met [Ajwad] was on the staircase. This guy was like, nearly suited up and said, "Hey, are you Ali?"
Andrew: I existed. They existed. And we crossed paths at a point.
Akshay: Drew was like the dude you couldn't avoid because you had to go around the hall to use the other staircase.
Andrew: I lived right next to the elevator.
Ajwad: You could hear his annoying guitar from was across.
Akshay: Yeah, good thing we can't hear that anymore.
Where are you all from originally?
Ajwad: Lahore, Pakistan.
Ali: I'm from Karachi, Pakistan.
Akshay: I'm from New Delhi, India.
Andrew: Fresno, California.
Akshay: Booo [laughs].
What were your first impressions of Macalester?
Ajwad: [Laughs] That's a good one.
Akshay: Well, my first impression of Macalester was Ajwad walking into Café Mac, so I thought it was a nice place.
Ajwad: What was my first impression?
Andrew: I know mine. Coming from California, I was wearing shorts, a t-shirt and flip-flops, and it was pouring rain in August. It was something I had never experienced in my entire life. I'm not even joking. In California it never rains in summer, and I was not prepared for that. So my first impression was, oh my god, what the heck is this?
Ajwad: I thought it was too international, to be honest.
Akshay: So irony was your first impression [laughs].
Ali: Too many foreigners.
Andrew: That was my impression too, and I just didn't want to say it.
Ali: My first impression…hmmm…I was a little late in coming here, so these...
Ajwad:..late, like always..
Ali: Ajwad has a tendency to come too soon.
[All laugh]
Ali: I guess I was honestly surprised as well because I wasn't expecting this many international people. Especially the Econ guys were all Indian.
Ajwad: Oh yeah, that's a good point.
Akshay: Yeah, only two of us, by the way.
What are your majors?
Ajwad: Akshay, you should go and start with freshman year.
Akshay: I've had several majors. The consistent one has been none. I started off Econ/International Studies, became Econ/IS and Art History minor. Then I became Econ/IS and Anthro for a little bit. And eventually became IS major with an Econ minor.
Ajwad: Yeah, Econ major, Applied Math minor.
Akshay: He's not a foreigner or anything.
Ali: I'm actually the same; Econ major and Stats minor.
Andrew: As a sophomore, still..
Akshay: Yeah, Drew's been working on that for a while.
Andrew: As a sophomore still, I reserve the right to wait until the very last day of the semester. I'm leaning towards Political Science, but I just haven't asked anyone to be my advisor yet.
Akshay: And just as a note to all sophomores, you can live off campus as a sophomore.
Andrew, can you talk about your time spent away from Macalester?
Akshay: In a penitentiary.
Andrew: Yeah, state penitentiary, or LDS Mission as some people call it. Yeah, I was away for a year and a half. I was a Mormon missionary in Germany and Switzerland.
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