At first glance, junior J. Jeremy Sueker appears to be your average, laid-back college student, joking with friends in the campus center. But upon closer examination, this community health major is anything but average.
In between researching the AIDS virus, helping students as a Writing Fellow, serving coffee at the Rez, dancing ballet for two companies or doing public service in Africa, Sueker managed to find the time to fit in an interview with the Daily.
As a result of his impressive achievements in the world of public service, this Philadelphia native was recently awarded the Harry S. Truman National Scholarship, making him Tufts' first recipient of the national honor in 11 years.
When asked how he manages all his activities, Sueker said that he isn't exactly sure. "I'm doing them because I enjoy them, which makes it a lot easier," Sueker said. "I'd like to say that I'm really efficient, but I'm not. I guess the key to it is not letting myself get stressed out."
Sueker's interest in public service was sparked in high school, where he attended an all-male Jewish preparatory school.
"I didn't become turned on to the world until the end of my junior year in high school," said Sueker, adding that the "turning point" was his participation in the Model United Nations, where he was a vocal participant. His spirited speeches eventually led to his being chosen for the Student Steering Committee.
"I realized then I should learn something about international relations or read the newspaper," Sueker said.
As a result, during his freshman year at Tufts, Sueker participated in the EPIIC program. Via the program, Sueker was able to travel to South Africa with another EPIIC participant, junior Frances Dixon, to in Sueker's words "research allocations of politically-motivated food supply manipulations."
Sueker found out about the severity of corruption in food distribution in South Africa and Zimbabwe, where people who were starving due to severe droughts were declined food because of their political party. The fall of their sophomore year, Sueker and Dixon presented their findings to visiting President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe.
Sueker traveled back to Africa the following summer as a Summer Scholar, where he was able to pursue his personal interest in the South African AIDS crisis by working for the HIV/AIDS Program at the University of the Western Cape in South Africa. His work there helped to fuel his creation of the HIV/AIDS Collaborative group at Tufts this past year.
Sueker and co-founder Zeleka Yeraswork, a senior, began this program last November as means of uniting student efforts in AIDS research on campus. "It's a forum for people to share information, share research and present research," Sueker said.
Although Sueker's many accomplishments would seem to qualify him for having a swelled head, Sueker has never really seen himself as an overachiever. Only after encouragement from Dean of Undergraduate Education James Glaser did Sueker realize that he had the credentials to apply for such prestigious scholarships as the Truman.
"I don't think I would have had the confidence to apply myself," Sueker said. "That's something our university needs to work on - a lot of people don't think that they can play on that level."
Sueker began the arduous application process last fall. In order to be considered by the foundation, he first had to be nominated by Tufts. He was chosen as one of the four Tufts nominees, and then applied to the actual program in January.
On Feb. 22, the finalists were announced. "This reduced the national pool from 650 to 200 students," Sueker said. So he "flew to Philadelphia in March for an intimidating seven-person interview, and two weeks later the scholars were chosen."
"President Bacow called me in to tell me," Sueker said of the surprise announcement. He was the sole Truman Scholar chosen from Tufts, making him Tufts' first since 1994.
"The foundation is basically investing in me," Sueker said. "They put their resources in us and train us to apply for more competitive scholarships."
Sueker will be given $30,000 towards graduate school, and he will be provided with a high-level internship upon completion of his senior year. Sueker will also be expected to work for three years in some area of public service.
As far as future plans, Sueker will be working for a doctor in Providence, Rhode Island for Brown's Biomedical Infectious Disease Corrections Report this coming summer. "I'll be directing protocol of HIV and Hepatitis C viruses for inmates," said Sueker, who also plans to publish his findings next fall.
Sueker is an involved member of the Writing Fellows program and he also sits on Tufts' Student Health Advisory Board. Last year, Sueker was an RA in Carmichael, and also served on the Hillel Board. But his true outlet is ballet.
"I started dancing seriously my senior year in high school," Sueker said. Currently he dances in Tufts Sarabande, and off-campus with the Harvard Ballet Company.
"When I decide to go to dance that day, despite whatever else is going on, everything is gone," Sueker said. "Practices are relaxing, but performing is stressful."
In yet another accomplishment: Sueker won a recent dance-off during the intermission of a recent Spirit of Color show. According to Sueker's friend Elliot Hirshon, a junior, Sueker's joking display of his dancing abilities was "the funniest thing I've ever seen at Tufts."
His extremely busy life, however, has caught up to Sueker in some ways. This past fall, he experienced a bout of depression, which he thinks was brought on by dealing with the effects of an emergency epidectomy earlier last semester. After deciding not to go abroad and using this spring semester to "get my feet back on the ground," Sueker said he now "feels much better."
Sueker added that he wants to talk about his depression because "one of the reasons that it is so stigmatized is that people do not talk about it."
"The only people you ever see who have it are those whose lives have been destroyed," Sueker said. "I'm one of the most accomplished people, and I deal with depression."
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