Each week, the Record (using a script in R) randomly selects a student at the College for our One in Two Thousand feature, excluding current Record board members. This week, Zach Sturdevant ’25 discussed his time in the military, parenting advice, and his hot takes on dining hall food. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Akkshansh Bagga (AB): I heard you were in the military before coming to Williams. What was that like?
Zach Sturdevant (ZS): It was an experience, for sure. It was one that I am glad I had. It was not one I would willingly do again. I learned a lot of stuff. I met a lot of really cool people. I had a lot of cool opportunities and things that I got to do because I was in the Navy. That being said, the particular job that I did — they absolutely got their money’s worth. It was not abnormal to [work] 60 to 70 hours a week, so that was less than ideal, but overall it was a good learning experience.
AB: Sources tell me that you grew up on a ranch surrounded by many, many cows. How does Ephelia compare?
ZS: Well, Ephelia has never kicked me, and I have never had to milk Ephelia, so I would say 100 percent improvement, just generally. Basically, cows are the worst animals on the planet. Not actually, but they’re pretty close. It’s not that they mean to be the worst animals on the planet — they just don’t care, and they’re gigantic. I would strongly recommend to anyone at Williams: Do not go into agriculture unless you want to work more hours than a consultant or a banker for less money.
AB: Why do you think the cows here are bigger?
ZS: I would say it’s selective breeding. It’s capitalism, baby. [Laughs.]
AB: You did a consulting internship over the summer at Bain & Company. How was that?
ZS: When you have a group project, there are some people who are like, “We’ll work on the group project two days before it’s due.” When I’m working on the group project, it is going to be done three days before it is due so that I don’t have to worry about it anymore. That’s my vibe. That’s my mindset. The biggest thing was that [at Bain] you show up to a group project where everyone’s like, “Let’s get this done as fast as we possibly can.” I had a great time and learned a lot about something very niche. That’s part of my reason for wanting to come to Williams in the first place — that I could just dive deep into random subjects that I thought were cool. Consulting felt very liberal-artsy in that sense.
AB: On that topic, what’s a niche class you’ve taken here?
ZS: My favorite class at Williams hands down was this children’s literature class, which just slapped so hard. It was with Professor [of Russian Janneke Micaela] van de Stadt in the comparative literature department. In one of the classes, we read 10 or 11 versions of Cinderella from all over the world. And then it was like, “Now that we’ve all read all of these things, what is this fairy tale doing for these different cultures?” There’s so much to talk about, especially from a lens of how we as society mold and shape the youth.
AB: On the topic of children’s literature, I know you have a kid. Did you read any of the literature with her?
ZS: I read all of the books to her. It was just literally like, “Oh, I’m going to do some homework. Do you want to read this book?” It definitely made me consider the kinds of books that I read with her more. You have a small person — what sort of things do you want them to internalize? Especially because she’s a girl, it’s like “Do you want to read [about] only princesses and whatever, or do you want to read some stuff where the main character is a girl and also a boss-ass bitch?” Probably a mixture of both, so that you’re not being like, “Hey, look, all women are princesses, and you have to be a princess and you have to be saved” — that’s not something you want.
AB: How do you juggle being a parent with everything else on your plate? Are there any tricks you’ve picked up?
ZS: Generally, my hacks are just time management. I treat [the time] when she is at school like my work hours. I drop her off at 8:30 a.m., and then I start doing work until it is time to pick her up. That is dedicated working time. I’m not spending any of that time messing around. And then when it’s Ariel time, it’s Ariel time. After Ariel goes to bed, it becomes work time again. I think that I’m just forced to regiment my time in a similar way to student-athletes. And obviously, it helps that I have a partner who takes 50 percent of it.
AB: What’s your favorite activity to do with Ariel?
ZS: We’re really big fans of golfing. She loves to putt. So I will take her golfing, and I will play up to the green, and then she will play on the green. She’s also a big fan of driving the golf cart. That’s really fun, just because it’s the only place where I can take a 5 year old and just let her drive and operate a vehicle. I also just like taking her around. She likes to look at art. She likes going to The Clark. She likes hanging out with friends [and] swimming. She’s also gotten super into soccer lately, which has been great.
AB: Maybe she will be an athlete.
ZS: Theoretically. We’ll see if she wants to. She just started soccer, and [before] the first practice, she did not want to go. She was like, “I don’t like soccer at all.” Second practice showed up, and literally at the end, she’s like, “Soccer is my favorite sport ever.” I was like, “I tried to tell you that. You literally just have to try it, and it’ll be fun, I promise.”
AB: If you had to choose between ranch life, Williamstown life, and city life, which one would you pick and why?
ZS: Definitely not ranch life. There’s a reason that I left. I think that there are some parts of Williamstown that are great, specifically because I have a kid. Everything feels super safe, and that kind of thing is really nice. I think overall, though, the city is just the answer because there’s so much more to do in cities. [But] Williams does an amazing job of bringing stuff in and always having a lot of activities, be it plays [or] a symphony.
AB: What’s the most impulsive thing you’ve ever done?
ZS: I feel like I’m not that impulsive. I’ve gone skydiving and jumped off bridges. I do a bunch of dumb stuff, but it’s always like, “Oh, this would be fun. I’m gonna do this thing.” Growing up, I fractured my tailbone jumping off of a bridge. So maybe that — but I don’t regret that or think that was impulsive. I think that it was literally just like, “Yeah, I just am an adrenaline-seeking individual.”
AB: What’s one thing on your bucket list that you haven’t got to yet?
ZS: One thing on my bucket list would be visiting Rome. I would very much like to go check out all of that architecture. I’ve been to one city in Europe: Vienna. I’ve spent a bunch of time in Southeast Asia, but I haven’t done the Europe thing.
AB: What’s your Williams hot take?
ZS: Oh, this is going to be the fucking hottest take of all time. Dining hall food: not that bad. Everyone complains a lot. It is actually pretty good.
AB: What’s your favorite dining hall on campus?
ZS: I like Driscoll. That’s a good dining hall.
AB: Do you like it because of the food or the ambience?
ZS: The vibes, for sure. I think the food is pretty comparable between the dining halls. Paresky feels too much like a hybrid work-eating space, and I’m there to eat food. I’m not there to do work.
