This week our featured 2T1 is our very own James Plaetzer! Find out more about James below in his interview with Julian, our monograph representative.
What’s a fun fact about yourself?
I guess a fairly unique fact about me would be that I grew up on a farm north of London. We currently have beef cattle, sheep, and field crops, but growing up I used to raise chickens in the summer as well. It’s been almost 6 years since I moved out, and I’ve really enjoyed my time in London and Toronto so far, but sometimes I still miss the space and the outdoors. It was a completely different lifestyle compared to living downtown like I am now.
Do you play any sports?
I enjoy playing all kinds of sports but I’ve been focusing mainly on volleyball recently. With the intramural teams here, it’s easy to just join a team and play, so it’s been nice to be able to take advantage of that.
What’s a talent/skill that you wish you had?
I wish I knew more about computer science and programming. I think that it’s really relevant now and it can be applied to a ton of different jobs in a lot of ways. In my undergrad, my profs were always talking about the need for people with both science and programming skills and I think that’s the same with most industries. I mean, programming is also one of those skills that would be really hard to master, and is likely more interesting to think about than the actually reality of doing the work, but I still think it’s a cool skill that would be really useful.
What’s one habit that you’d like to start?
I definitely need to start exercising more regularly. For the last few years, it seems to be something that I start and then give up on when school really picks up. I know that it’s important, especially after that one lecture where they told us that males start to build up atherosclerotic plaque after age 18, so it’s something I’ll have to keep working on.
If you won the lottery, what would be your first big purchase?
I would have to choose between a house and a vacation as my first big purchase. Owning property in Toronto is definitely something that would only happen if I won the lottery. In an ideal world, I like to think that I’d live the same way I do now, invest all the money, and live off the interest, but I know I’d probably end up spending it on crazy things like everyone else does. Hopefully I’ll find out someday!
If you could live anywhere for a year, where would it be?
New Zealand is the first place that comes to mind because it’s so scenic, and it seems to have a culture similar enough to Canada that I’d be able to adjust easier. I’ve never been there before but it seems so mythical with the warm weather, mountains and the ocean.
Honestly, I’ve always planned to stay living in Canada. It’s easy to underestimate how huge our country is, but each province is really different and there’s lots to see and do. I’ve seen a lot of the country on road trips out east and out west, and I think if I was going to move to a new place to try something different, it would just be to a different province.
All photo credits to Sera Ji Hyun Lee, 2T1 Pharmakon Rep.