Hangin’ out with … Austen Michel

What is your major? What has been your favorite class at Dartmouth?

"My major is economics, but my favorite class at Dartmouth has probably been Persuasive Speech, which I took in the fall. I took it with a couple of my teammates. It was really interesting because I went in thinking, ‘I’m a pretty smart kid. I can talk, and I’ll be able to handle myself pretty easily.’ But, I really got hit hard the first week because everyone in that class sounded like (former President Barack) Obama, so you really had to refine yourself quickly and bring the juice. From start to end, the way I was able to use writing, rhetoric, form arguments, and then be able to demonstrate that to others through the oral word really improved. I think that is a really big characteristic that you need in life. It was a fun class, too. I did a speech arguing for steroid use in baseball. Even though I don’t necessarily feel that should be the case, it was cool to argue about that and try to come up with legitimate reasons. Demonstrating that to the class was fun."