This week, we interviewed Peter Simpson (he/him), a junior from New York City concentrating in History and Africana Studies. Read our conversation below:

How are you? How’s your junior year going?
I’ve been good. Over all my year has been pretty good. A bit more preprofessional than previous years, in terms of senior year and graduation.

Where are you studying abroad and why did you choose to go there?
I’m in Cape Town, South Africa. I chose to come here because I had never been to the continent of Africa before. I also study history with a focus on Africa, and so in terms of my concentration, it made sense as well.

Favorite part of your concentrations? What led you to your concentrations?
I took a history class my freshman year about South African history and I realized I wanted to learn more about history through Africana Studies. My favorite part of both departments is how committed they are to their students. It’s great that the teachers know your name and follow up, and say hey I haven’t seen you around what’s up? I love the commitment of the teachers to me and what I’m interested in.

Something you wish you could tell your freshman year self?
I wish I could tell myself to be more patient with myself in terms of finding out what my interests actually were, and to reach out to professors. Reach out more in terms of general support; in terms of faculty, friends, organizations, and people who are receptive to who I am as a person and what I bring to spaces.

What community at Brown has been most influential in making it feel like home?
These people fit into lots of different communities, but the first program is the Bonner program. Most people I hang out with are UFLi students from the BCSC, but having an intentional program and weekly meetings made us closer. I think it’s hard to find community sometimes at Brown, especially as a new place, but that helped.