Student Squared: Eleni Hailemichael ’27

Q: What’s your name? Where are you from?

A: My name is Eleni Hailemichael. I’m from Phoenix, Ariz., but originally born in Ethiopia.

Q: How’s your senior year going? 

A: It's going good. It feels unreal. Really happy to be here.

Q: What’s your major? What do you study?

A: At Amherst [College], I study math. Go math department! And through a dual degree program, I also study systems engineering at Dartmouth College.

Q: How does it feel coming back to Amherst after being at Dartmouth this past year?

A: I think with the creation of the [new] dining hall, Amherst [is] somewhat of a newer school than I remember. There’s just so many memories I made at Val[entine Dining Hall] and Keefe [Campus Center] that are no more. Makes me feel so old. 

It feels like the same thing happened to me during Covid, where I just lost a couple of years. You know how like 2020 just seems like it was a concept and not actual time, and then you look back on it and you realize 2020 was six years ago. 

Q: What was your favorite class at Dartmouth?

A: It was an engineering class, “Systems.” I would say it was my favorite class. It’s such an introductory class, but the professor that we had it with was so honest and so real with us that it felt less daunting and intimidating. But outside of that, I would say I took a really good creative writing class. It was called “Creative Nonfiction,” and that also really shaped my experience on campus and how I express myself there.

Q: Well, welcome back.

A: It’s good to be back.

Q: Tell me about what a typical day in your life is like.

A: This semester, I'm continuing to do work-study through Amherst. I work at Amherst Community Connections (ACC), and that is a pretty dominating time commitment I have — 12 hours a week. But, aside from that, I’m taking two math classes and two humanities classes, and I’m really happy I still have the balance of those two. I’m currently taking MATH-280: “Graph Theory” and MATH-350: “Groups, Rings, and Fields,” and then I’m taking BLST-256: “The Idea of Africa,” as well as SOCI-125: “Sociology of Everyday Life.”

Q: Very cool. What do you think is the best class you’ve taken at Amherst so far?

A: I think the best class was the most fundamental class for me. I really enjoyed MATH-272 with Associate Professor of Mathematics Nathan Pfleuger. It is [titled] “Linear Algebra with Applications.” Not only was it really helpful for my time away, I think it reignited my love and passion for math.

Q: That’s beautiful. What’s your favorite spot on campus?

A: My favorite spot on campus has definitely changed over the years, but as of recently, I really like the little seating area by King Hall. I think it’s a really nice space, and it feels super far removed from campus because all you see [are] trees. I like being outside, so it’s a nice pit stop for me before I get into my dorm.

Q: Since you’re from Arizona, how do you like the nature here and the landscape in Amherst? 

A: I really like it. My parents and I were super impressed when we first came to campus. Well, even more so because they came for move-in, but I was here for Summer Bridge a little bit before that. I think what I immediately noticed and fell in love with was the trees and the fact that the foliage actually turned different colors between seasons. It makes living on campus and especially in [or] near the Greenways really, really beautiful.

Q: Do you have a hidden talent?  

A: My party trick is being hypermobile. It’s so hidden, I didn’t know I had it. Well, I’ve had suspicions about it, but I only had it confirmed this past May. 

Q: Do you have a campus conspiracy theory?

A: I do. I believe there’s an underground system that actually connects every place — it’s not just Jearns basement. We have yet to unlock that. This is like if Amherst is the Denver airport, we are the aliens. I’m pretty sure I have more, but that’s my main one.

Q: What’s one thing that has surprised you since coming here?

A: Maybe the fact that Amherst isn’t a surprising place, you know what I mean. Sometimes, not to be negative or anything, but I think it’s such a chillax place that people get so used to so quickly — that lack of learning curve can be a pretty shocking thing.

Q: If you could spend an hour with your future self, what would you say or ask them?

A: First of all, the future self I would want to talk to is at the very end of my life. I think they would have a lot more to say. I would probably ask them about all of the big milestones post-college and whether or not I actually achieved some of them.

Q: If you were to trade lives with someone at Amherst, who would you choose?

A: Well, I feel like most people would gravitate to say [President] Michael Elliott, but I don’t feel that way. I want to be the mascot. Let me be the mascot full time. Let me apply. He’s alive, right? Whoever is the mascot, please reach out to me. I have inquiries.

Q: If you could listen to one musical artist for a year, who would you choose?

A:  I’m trying to think of artists who have enough breadth where I would be like, I could listen to whatever song for whatever occasion.  So for that reason, I’ll choose The 1975. I was gonna say Michael Jackson, but The 1975 as of right now. Just because you asked me today, not tomorrow, not yesterday. Today. 

Q: Do you have any favorite extracurricular activities or hobbies? 

A: I like crocheting. I can’t sew, so I crochet, and I can’t knit, so I crochet. I like making small stuff. I haven’t worked my way up to plushies just yet. I like to make wintertime things like scarves and headbands. And an occasional shirt or sweater. It takes time, though. 

Q: How do you feel about senior year?

A: When I think of senior year, I think of high school, just because it’s so popular to be a senior when you’re in high school and not in higher academia. In that case, it kind of set me back to four years ago, and naturally, by going back, I get to see how much has really changed in four years. I think looking at senior year through a more amateurish kind of high school lens has forced me to take this year a little less seriously, more in stride than in previous years, and to just finish as well-rounded as possible.

Q: Do you know what you want to do post-grad?

A: Well, after I graduate this year, I [will] go back to [Dartmouth] and finish up that program. After that, I plan on entering the workforce. Hashtag committed to Lockheed Martin. I do plan on getting a job, either using my math degree or my engineering degree. I’m not exactly sure yet, but I’m sure I’ll gain some sort of clarity in the time in between. Math can go into a lot of different things. But at the same time, it makes the search of figuring out what you want to do very daunting. It’s nice at Amherst because [of] the liberal arts college experience. You don’t have to declare [a major] until your second year. It’s very open in terms of the curriculum and the timeline of that curriculum. But I also essentially want to extend that same open curriculum to my professional career.

Q: Do you have any advice? What would you tell yourself first week of freshman year looking back? 

A: There’s honestly not much I would say to myself, but I would encourage my freshman self to remain reassured in herself that the experience will be, in fact, important and valuable, and to stay as authentic to herself as possible because it’s gotten us so far.