Student Snapshot: Nick Seck ’20

Nick Seck '20

Nick Seck ’20 

Nick Seck ’20 is an economics major, RA, CommServ volunteer, Montgomery Service Leader, blogger and student-entrepreneur who charts his own adventurous path. After graduation, he plans to work remotely and live nomadically, so he can briefly live in all of the counties in the United States. He believes firmly in individualism and in an economic system based on collaboration.

Hometown:

Stanhope, New Jersey.

Majors:

Quantitative economics.

Clubs and organizations:  

RA, Accounting TA, Student Investment Group, CommServ (inmate tutor), Montgomery Service Leaders (leadership team) and Innovation Competition (consulting team). I also run a blog and think tank for a local business called Personal Care Transport, and I contribute bimonthly articles about travel tips to a local newspaper called The Guide.

Honors/scholarships/awards:

Benjamin Rush Scholarship.

Favorite book:

Too many to decide. Here’s a list of my favorite ones I read recently: Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk, Strangers in Their Own Land by Arlie Russell Hochschild and Food of the Gods by Terence McKenna.

Favorite movie:

Either Fight Club or Good Will Hunting.

Favorite professor:  

I’m cheating here, because he’s not a professor, but [Assistant Provost and Director of Career Development] Phil Jones. He was the first adult I told about my plans, and even though he thought I was crazy, he supported me from day one. Phil is always challenging me and giving me new ideas for my pursuits, career-related and noncareer-related. Without him, I’m not sure that I’d be where I am right now.

Biggest influence: 

My high school wrestling coach, Doug Vetter, had a huge impact on my personal development. Standing at 6’3” and built like a grizzly bear, Coach Vetter was an imposing force of nature. He always knew how to motivate us to push ourselves toward our potentials. Quotes like, “Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right” remain imprinted in my memory and are a constant reminder of the importance of confidence and resilience.

There’s an old quote that goes, “Once you’ve wrestled, everything else in life is easy.” I don’t believe that to be true anymore, but I still use the mental tools I’ve learned from Coach Vetter to push me to be a better version of myself every single day, in whatever form that may take.

In a perfect world … 

…there would be no ego. I believe that ego is the biggest roadblock to our spiritual and material progression as a species. The world’s problems would all but disappear if we acted as a collaborative web of consciousness, rather than a spatter of individuals all myopically driven by their own self-interest. Such a society would be compassionate, empathetic and understanding. The framework of our economic system would be based on collaboration rather than competition. Businesses would care for their employees and have the foresight to make conscious decisions regarding the future of our planet and ecosystems. Governments would be transparent and altruistic, while still guaranteeing the protection of our rights. Almost ironically, in such a society, individuals would be highly valued, but never in such a way that compromised the harmony of the system or rewarded them unfair advantages based on arbitrary categorizations.

On individualism:

I’ve always been a person who would prefer to do things their own way and live by their own personal set of values and standards.

On the Dickinson education:

Despite being in a STEM major, I have gained tons of experience with presentations, writing and interpersonal skills. Regardless of what field I decide to enter upon graduation, I’m confident that Dickinson has provided me with the right materials to construct a sturdy foundation on which my life will be built.

Post-Dickinson plans:

After Dickinson, I plan on working remotely, living nomadically and traveling to every county in the United States. So far I’m at 185 out of 3,142. In terms of what work I actually want to do, I’m still unsure. I’d love a job that pays well and allows me to better the lives of disadvantaged people in some way.

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Published September 17, 2019