Michael Black (Physics, Honors Physics):

• Recent/Favorite books: Packing for Mars by Mary Roach; The Survivors Club by Ben Sherwood; Chasing Space by Leland Melvin; Cosmos by Carl Sagan
• Favorite snacks: fruit, veggies, chips and sour cream and onion dip
• Favorite wise sayings:
  “Take two minutes and breathe.”
  “Life is not easy, folks, so relax.”
• Favorite potato-related product: Clearly it’s fries. All of them. Slice them, fry/bake them, salt them, done. 

Dimitri Dounas-Frazer (Physics, Advanced Calculus-Based Physics, Accelerated Calculus AB):

• Recent/Favorite books: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N. K. Jemison; The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi; Einstein on Race and Racism by Fred Jerome and Rodger Taylor
• Favorite snacks: Chocolate; popcorn; dried seaweed with wasabi
• Favorite wise sayings:
  “Nothing works the first time.”
  “It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter’s Law.”
  “Everything worthwhile is done with other people.” –Mariame Kaba
• Favorite potato-related product: Potatoes au gratin

Eshwar Ramanan (Chemistry, Honors Chemistry):

• Recent/Favorite books: The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien; Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
• Favorite snacks: Roasted peanuts; dried mangoes
• Favorite wise sayings: “It is very simple to be happy, but very difficult to be simple.” –Rabindranath Tagore
• Favorite potato-related product: Indian style roasted potatoes.

Katie Piper (The Modern World and You, United States History)

• Recent/Favorite books: The Buried by Peter Hessler; Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck
• Favorite snacks: Haribo Star Mix
• Favorite wise saying: “How we spend our days, is, of course, how we spend our lives.”  –Annie Dillard
• Favorite potato-related product: Well, that would have to be fries…

Jiabang Wu (Chinese I, Chinese V)

• Recent book: Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong
• Favorite potato-related product: I guess curry?… 

Kyle Lawhead (Wellness, Games and Movement)

• Recent/Favorite book: Talking to GOATs by Jim Gray
• Favorite snacks: Chips and popcorn. I’m a salt lover although I do my best to eat them in moderation. I can go without dessert easily, but salty snacks are hard for me to say no to.
• Favorite wise saying: “You can’t win them all if you don’t win the first one.”
• Favorite potato-related product: I wish it wasn’t, but french fries

Tom Campbell (College Counseling)

• Recent/Favorite book: Where You Go is Not Who You’ll Be by Frank Bruni
• Favorite snacks: Pretty much anything Mexican. If I’m really feeling indulgent and salivating for some sweet, sweet sodium: Takis. I’m also a sucker for some warm baked gooeyness that have a heavy dose of cinnamon sugar. Y’all should try monkey bread with Pillsbury cinnamon rolls. Get this: cinnamon rolls in a pan with a – wait for it – WHOLE STICK of butter sliced on top, dusted with a ¼ cup of cinnamon sugar and baked in a greased pan. Incredible.
• Favorite wise sayings: Really any of the poetry that comes from Kacey Musgraves’ brilliant songwriting. This one always stands out to me: “Favors for friends will get you in, they’ll get you far; but when did it become about who you know and not about how good you are?”
• Favorite potato-related product: Totchos (aka tater tot nachos). 

Erin Foster (College Counseling)

• Recent/Favorite books: The Changeling by Victor LaValle; The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin; Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
• Favorite snacks: Pineapple, pita chips and hummus, and all things salted caramel.
• Favorite wise sayings:
  “Don’t avoid trying new things because you’re afraid of the ‘what ifs.’” – my mom
  “When things don’t go as expected, trust the reroute.” – Lalah Delia
• Favorite potato-related product: I truly love any potato-related product, but if I must choose one, my favorite is the waffle fry.

Frances Nan (College Counseling)

• Recent/Favorite books: My StoryGraph app tells me I mainly read “nonfiction books that are reflective, informative, and emotional. Typically chooses medium-paced books that are <300 pages long.”
• Favorite snacks: Kombucha, if it’s not too sweet.
• Favorite wise sayings: ”The only way to survive is by taking care of each other.” – Grace Lee Boggs
• Favorite potato-related product: Waffle fries for life! The perfect combo of crunchy and chewy. Maximum surface area for any sauce or topping of your dreams. What’s not to like?