Nicholas Smith '23
BS Human Evolutionary Biology
Pronouns: he/him

How did you hear about Stony Brook?
I am originally from Holbrook, NY, a small town 20 minutes from Stony Brook. Growing up so close to Stony Brook, I always knew about both the university and the hospital, and knew older peers who were graduating and going to Stony Brook.

On his major:
I am a Human Evolutionary Biology (EBH) major. I chose EBH because I was initially a history major on the pre-PA track, but there wasn't enough overlap between the classes I needed to take for my major, and the classes I needed to take for pre-PA. So I switched to EBH because it is a great mix between the humanities and the sciences.

Favorite class:
My favorite class was through the Honors College with Prof. Jon Friedman  – it  was all about The Beatles. It was a one-credit topics class and the entire class was just us going through the entire Beatles discography, listening to all of their albums and talking in depth about each of the four members of the band. Prof. Friedman was so knowledgeable about the band, I couldn't believe how he knew so much about little details and obscure songs I had never even heard of. To this day, because of this class, The Beatles is one of my favorite bands and I listen to their music all the time.

Interests and accomplishments:
Some of my accomplishments include maintaining a 4.0 GPA and graduating Summa Cum Laude, winning the Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence, being inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa national honors society, and being a member of the Dean's List for all eight semesters of my undergrad. Some of my interests/hobbies include watching soccer, watching and playing hockey, and also anything that has to do with Star Wars: I'm a huge nerd!

Greatest achievement:
Oh, without a doubt I would say winning the Chancellor's Award. This is only given to 14 students each year out of thousands of graduates and it's the most prestigious honor a SUNY school can bestow on an undergraduate. It is not only a reflection of my outstanding GPA, but also of all of the involvement I've done on campus as well as my leadership experience throughout my four years at Stony Brook so I am super proud of having won that award.

Plans for post-graduation:
This upcoming year I will be taking a gap year to work a bit more at my job and also to just destress and (hopefully) travel a bit. But in the future, I will be attending PA school with the goal of becoming an ER physician's assistant one day!

Career aspirations:
My goal is to become a physician's assistant, hopefully working in emergency medicine.

Clubs and organizations:
I have been a part of a few clubs on campus. I am currently a Commuter Assistant, which is a freshman mentorship role. In it, I helped incoming freshman commuter students to get acclimated to being a student in college and helped them get involved on campus since being a commuter student can be hard! We also help out the Department of Commuter Student Services with on-campus events for commuter students. I have also been an English Pal in the past, which is a club that pairs international students with native English speakers in order to help the international student to learn English and also make a friend in the process. I was also an Honors College Big Sibling, which is  a freshman mentorship program but for Honors College Students. Off-campus, I volunteer at the Long Island State Veterans Home and work as a phlebotomist in the ER at Long Island Community Hospital.

Advice for potential Seawolves:
I know you probably will hear it a lot during the first few weeks of school but GET INVOLVED!! It is so important to go to clubs and events on campus because you will meet people and it will make your college experience 10x better. Don't just go home on the weekends, go visit other people's dorms, leave your door open, and hang out in common spaces. Even if you don't know anybody yet or you don't know if you want to go to this club consistently or you're not really sure if you'll like it JUST GO! If you don't like it then you can leave or just not come back, but I promise you, you will eventually meet your people. Don't wait idly by for someone to come talk to you. Go out there and get involved!