David Ghan/The Falcon

“Student Spotlight” is a new feature in The Falcon, in which we randomly select a student on campus and ask them to share about themselves and some their opinions on current issues. You could be next! (“Student Spotlight” will return as a weekly sidebar in Features after the Christmas holiday.)

Senior Shaun McMichael
Psychology/Creative writing double major

Where do you currently live?
I live down the street above Zeke’s Pizza….Seattle is actually my home.

What’s your mode of transportation around the city?
By car….I’m kind of in-between cars right now….I’m driving my friend’s Toyota Corolla.

Who has been your most influential professor at SPU and why?
I’m going to say Dr. Thorpe….I think his way of applying poetry to a spiritual experience has been the most helpful. It’s fit the most with my ethos. It’s kind of what I’ve always believed but never been able to express and he was able to express it very clearly. Poetry invites us on an imaginative experience, which is, I think, the same process that Christ invites us on…an imaginative one…one where we can lapse outside the selfhood and get to know other people.

Finals are coming up, so how do you study for finals/exams?
Talking to myself. I think that talking to myself or other people about it…sort of re-teaching myself, teaching other people is the most helpful to solidify ideas in my head. [The] technique’s called “verbalization.” And then, of course…usually note cards [for memorization].

Do you drink coffee to help? Have a favorite drink?
Yes, I do--a short, double shot Americano.

Favorite coffee shop?
El Diablo [on Queen Anne], but I’m the kind of person that likes to go different places so I can get around and feel as much of the city as I can.

Favorite food?
Fried egg sandwich

Favorite Seattle restaurant?
The 5 Spot [on Queen Anne]

Would you be or are you a vegetarian?
Probably not. I tried doing a Pescetarian diet once, which is eating fish only….It felt good, but I think just the restriction of not being able to eat chicken made me want to crave it more, and so it made it more difficult. As a psych major, I’m very sensitive to issues involving restrictions on eating. I worked with the National Eating Disorders Association for a six-month internship. A lot of peoples’ problems with eating…developed…out of an anxiety or restriction towards food, and so, kind of as a reaction to that and some of my learning there, I just don’t feel that tight restriction [is] very beneficial.

Favorite movie?
Fight Club

Any recent movies that you really enjoyed?
“Stranger than Fiction.” Loved it.

Favorite musician/composer/band?
Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam

What are you currently listening to?
Sufjan Stevens’s “The Avalanche.” …and Elliot Smith’s “Either/Or.” I always love that in winter.

If you could only go to concert ever again in your entire life, who would it be?
Fugazi, hands down. Probably my favorite punk band.

Any hobbies/interests that help define you?
Writing. I write poetry and short fiction….I have a poem published in “Lingua” and I also have one published [with] the International Poetry Society. Nothing paid yet.

Have you been following the presidential primaries? Is there a candidate who you might consider voting for?
No. Not at all. I actually don’t think I’m going to vote. I just don’t think any vote I’ll make will be…respecting myself or the political system.

Do you think any of the lifestyle expectations rules are unnecessary?
I think that it’s important to maintain a commitment to a certain expectation within a Christian university. I value that to a degree….I think if I had to come down to it I’d say “get rid of them”…[and] let the…students who come here…decide for ourselves how we want to live.`