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, Caitlin Striff-Cave ’27 discussed her first two years at the College, her love for performing, and her advice for first-years. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Sophia Anisman (SA): I know that you’re a history major. What made you choose that path?

Caitlin Striff-Cave (CSC): I really love learning about people and their stories. I think my favorite form of learning history is through primary source documents and getting a feel of who came before me and who they were. It’s something that feels very human to me. I also found myself taking different history classes on different regions of the world, and I think that’s partly because I was really embarrassed by my lack of world knowledge. I was like, “Oh my god, I need to get on this.”

SA: What’s your favorite class that you’ve taken at the College?

CSC: Probably either the one I’m in right now, which is “The Modern Middle East” with  [Professor of History] Magnús Bernhardsson, or “Going Nuclear” with [Professor of Sociology] James Nolan. “Going Nuclear” was about the formation of the atomic bomb, and it was a really interesting class. I felt like we could go really in depth, which I think can be lacking in classes that are broader scans of history. I really like “The Modern Middle East” because I think Professor Bernhardsson is awesome, and I think the topic is really interesting and obviously pertinent. I’ve never taken a Middle Eastern history class before, so it’s cool to learn about a totally new topic. It also kind of gives me a second to think outside of America. 

SA: What’s your favorite memory from your past two and a half years at the College? 

CSC: Last year in the fall, I had my first performance with my band, TYPO. It’s been a dream of mine for a really long time to make live music and to be a part of something like that. To have built it from the bottom up and do it in front of all these people I care about who were really excited to see me and my friends play —  it was an ineffable feeling. I was just very overwhelmed with how lucky it was to have all these friends who came to watch, and I was proud that I got to see a goal of mine through from point A to point B, even though it was hard to get to. The payoff was really awesome, and it made me feel really good. I think I feel the most like myself when I’m performing. 

SA: What other campus communities or clubs are you involved in? 

CSC: I am part of Treestyle and the Ephlats, the oldest all-gender a cappella group on campus. I’m also a member of the cross country team and the track and field team. I walked on when I was a freshman, which was very surprising to everyone, including me. I had only really started running my senior year of high school. I tried out not thinking that I was going to make it, and then I made it onto the team, and I was like, “Oh, okay. Now I’m doing cross country for the first time at the collegiate level.” I love my team. I love being active, and I love moving my body every day. 

SA: What events do you do for track and field? 

CSC: I pretty much just run the mile or the 1500m. I’m more of a mid-distance runner. You will never see me doing the 10k or anything like that. There’s no amount of money you could pay me.

SA: You’re going abroad this spring. Where are you going?

CSC: I’m going to Madrid.

SA: Why did you choose that program? 

CSC: I’ve wanted to go to Spain for a while. I’ve been taking Spanish for a really long time, and even though I’ve historically been bad at Spanish, it was something that I wanted to culminate to something. My dad is from England, so I’ve been around that area of Europe and I wanted to try something new. I also wanted to try to really improve my language level, and I think that immersion is kind of one of the only ways you can do it. 

SA: Do you have any advice for first-year students?

CSC: This is very cliché, but finding a time every single day to move your body and exercise, even if it’s just a walk or anything — I hate to say it, but it really does help. It makes things feel a lot more structured and manageable. I think that with the chaos that can be your first year of college, having something that grounds your mind and your body is so crucial.

SA: Last question: What’s a fun fact about you? 

CSC: My fun fact is that I have a twin brother who goes here too. It wasn’t on purpose, but we ended up here together. We kind of both thought we were going to go somewhere else. And then we ended up both choosing here, and we were kind of like, “Okay, guess we’re gonna make this work.”