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, Linden Niedeck ’25 discussed his experience on the Nordic ski and club cycling teams, his interest in making pasta, and his decade-long study of French. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Arleny Flores (AF): You’re on the varsity Nordic ski and club cycling teams. What do you enjoy most about those activities?
Linden Niedeck (LN): The ski team is really fun because it’s a group of people who all really like to be outdoors. We all love our really long workouts, which feel like we’re just hanging out for a couple hours. We are really supportive of each other — it’s a nice balance between being a good group of people and people who want to ski fast and train hard. And then the cycling team is really nice because we like to work out, but are way more calm about it because it’s a club sport rather than a varsity sport. It’s fun to — after the ski season — have a nice little break from such intense practice every day, pedal around for a little bit, and hang out.
AF: You’re also quite the craft enthusiast. What projects have you worked on recently?
LN: I just finished making a little teddy bear from scratch for my friend who’s taking the MCAT this weekend. I made a little lab coat for it. I’ve made three-quarters of two different sweaters, but I ran out of yarn. [Laughs.] I also made a hat and a scarf recently. During the winter, when I’m on long car rides or when I don’t want to be doing work, it’s great to have my knitting supplies in my bag.
AF: Speaking of making things from scratch, I heard you like to make homemade pasta. What’s your favorite kind of pasta to make and to eat?
LN: Well, I can only make spaghetti. Gnocchi is my favorite pasta to eat, like a nice gnocchi al pomodoro. My favorite shape would be gemelli: It almost looks like penne that’s been twisted around. And then, when I‘m like, “I need something funny to eat,” I love a cooked lasagna noodle. Just that. A little bit of olive oil, a little bit of salt, you eat it with chopsticks, and it’s just like eating an eel or something.
AF: Do you like cooking any other foods?
LN: I’m not the best cook. I think my two specialties are French omelettes and microwaved bread. Microwaved bread with a little bit of butter.
AF: You’re interested in Eurovision. What about it excites you?
LN: It’s just a super fun thing. It’s my Thunderdome — my Super Bowl. I understand how people can get so hyped up about the playoffs for something, because I follow it so closely.
AF: What kind of music do you listen to? Would you consider yourself a big music person?
LN: I love music. I’ve been listening to a lot of Eurovision music, and more upbeat songs — like Charli XCX’s pre- and post-Brat songs. It fluctuates between that and French and Swedish songs.
AF: You’re majoring in French…
LN: Oui, oui.
AF: And also chemistry. How did you pick those subjects?
LN: I remember being a little snob in sixth grade. We were given the option between taking Spanish and French. I was like, “I think French is harder.” So I took French and continued it because I was fine at it, I liked it, and I thought the idea of being able to speak another language was interesting. It just became a constant for — oh my God — 11 years of French. So yeah, a lot of French, which hopefully I can use in the future because my dream grad school is in Lausanne, Switzerland, and they speak French there. For chemistry, I really liked it in high school. I took AP Chem and just had a blast with it. And then I got here and I was like, “Well, I don’t really like biology, math will kill me, physics is math by another name, and I don’t really like reading or writing, so it looks like chemistry it is.” A real process of elimination.
AF: What is one of your favorite memories from your four years here at the College?
LN: Every year, the ski team has one night — whether it’s at a team dinner or when we’re off at races — when we all sit down in a big circle and each write something positive about every other person on the team. That has been a really, really positive memory that I’ve gotten to have for four years.
AF: What’s your favorite class you’ve taken at the College?
I took this French class called “Creole Languages and Cultures.” I thought it was fascinating, mostly because my professor taught it with a very clear narrative. I felt like, by the end of the class, I could reiterate in a minute or so what we learned. That class was really, really powerful. For me personally, I connected with Haiti and the way that the intellectuals and thinkers thought about their identity as a people, post French colonial times, and my own identity as an adopted person.
AF: Last question: What are you most looking forward to after graduation?
LN: Getting to meet a bunch of new people, whether it’s co-workers or friends of friends. A new group of people to get to know, get to meet — and not reinvent myself for, but present this new Linden who has had four years of growth. I’ve grown so much since my first year. And when I came here, I got to present a version of myself that I was happy with coming out of high school, and now I get to present another version of myself that I’m happy with coming out of college.
