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NER Interns: Where are they now?

Farid Noori

March 26, 2021

NER intern Maia Sauer ’22 chats with Farid Noori ‘19.5 about his past experience with NER and his two-wheeled journey since Middlebury.

Maia Sauer: When were you an intern with NER, and what were some memorable aspects of your experience?

Farid Noori: I did my internship with NER during the 2017 winter term. Every hour was memorable and exciting, because the experience of being immersed in a professional literary environment was very new to me. I particularly enjoyed the editorial meetings with Jennifer Bates, which was definitely outside my comfort zone as the intern with the least literary experience (I majored in Economics). But, it pushed me to learn, and to learn quickly. The discomfort that came from the challenge of learning something new and getting my brain used to a new way of thinking is what made my time the most riveting. 

MS: Since Middlebury, you’ve followed your love of cycling and entrepreneurship to form the organization Mountain Bike Afghanistan. You’re also pursuing an MBA program. Could you share a few steps on your path to how you arrived here?

FN: Actually, I started Mountain Bike Afghanistan while still a student at Middlebury College in 2018. What followed after my graduation in February of 2019 was a year on the road, coast to coast, chasing mountain bike races and promoting my nonprofit to interested audiences. The decision to start grad school came from the need to extend my student visa. I applied to several universities, all of which had to meet the one condition of being located in exceptionally good places for mountain biking. I was fortunate that I was admitted to the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, home to the fastest growing network of mountain bike trails and cycling communities in the United States, and arguably the world. I am very lucky to be here.

MS: What does a typical day in your life look like right now?

FN: My days are nearly all the same, with no distinction between weekdays and weekends. I am an early riser, usually up by 6AM, sometimes earlier. I make French Press coffee and dive into reading the New Yorker for an hour. This is my sacred part of the day. I can attest to any recent college graduate and aspiring writer out there that subscribing to your favorite magazine is the first adult thing you must do. At some point in the day, depending on the weather, is a bike ride ranging from 1.5 to 5 hours. In between, I attend classes, which are entirely online these days. I also work a twenty hour-per-week Graduate Assistant (GA) position for a small private company, mainly doing business analysis (also online). Only after all of these must-do commitments are fulfilled do I get to work on Mountain Bike Afghanistan; planning new projects, fundraising, supporting our team of cyclists back home, etc. It’s a busy life, but I enjoy doing it all. 

MS: Could you point to one skill that you developed during your undergraduate years—in school or internships—that has been beneficial to your current work?

FN: Asking and sharing! Just good communication skills—I cannot stress this enough. I have found that people in positions of leadership and influence really like and value the passion and potential of younger, more inexperienced people. And they want to help. One just has to be comfortable enough to be vulnerable and reach out, be it cold-calling on LinkedIn or a tag on Twitter. There are a myriad of ways to connect these days. Some of these attempts may go unanswered, but most often they do not. Whatever your dreams and goals may be, you cannot get closer to achieving them by relying on your own skills alone. Having allies and mentors is really important, not just to guide you along the way, but to challenge you to continue to grow.

MS: Have you read any good books recently?

FN: I enjoyed every word in The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown. The grit of the individuals is inspiring, but so is the language that Brown skillfully employs in the book. As an aspiring writer in the nonfiction genre, I didn’t just read the book. I studied it. 

MS: What makes a perfect story?

FN: Stories that tap into the depth of lived experiences and attempt to answer the why? Too often we confront stories that answer the how of things, but when stories attempt to address the why, they enter another dimension, seeing past the obvious and the mundane. 

Speaking of stories, I am delighted to share that I published two feature articles last year (as proof that you can still write even if you are doing something as technical as an MBA—I think Carolyn Kuebler will be proud): one which was on the front page of Bicycling Magazine, https://bit.ly/35JoSVs; and another in CyclingTips: https://bit.ly/2Nf5E3w.

MS: Thank you, Farid! It was great speaking with you. I look forward to keeping up with your adventures through writing and cycling.

Farid Noori, pictured at his graduation in front of Mead Chapel, with his brother.

Filed Under: Featured, Interns, News & Notes, Where Are They Now Tagged With: Farid Noori, Maia Sauer

Meet the Interns

Farid and Nick

January 26, 2017

Interns Farid Noori (left) and Nick Kaye (right) in front of the NER office in Middlebury, Vermont

Farid Noori and Nick Kaye are the Winter Term interns for NER. They come in Monday through Thursday each week to help with a variety of tasks, including writing web posts, analyzing subscriber data, organizing office inventory, and developing marketing ideas. They also meet with fiction editor Jennifer Bates once a week to review and discuss submissions.

Farid and Nick sit down together to learn about each other’s backgrounds, interests, and aspirations.

 

Farid Noori is from Ghazni, Afghanistan, but grew up in Quetta, Pakistan, and Kabul, Afghanistan. He came to the United States for high school in 2011, and has lived in Maine and New Mexico. He is a junior at Middlebury College, where he studies Economics.

Nick Kaye: What was your experience with literature growing up in Afghanistan?

Farid Noori: As a Farsi native, I grew up surrounded by Persian literature, so there was a lot of Rumi, Saadi, Hafiz, and many other poets and writers that aren’t popular in the West . . . not yet.

I also learned Pashto (Afghanistan’s other official language), English, and Turkish, but didn’t engage with them as much as I did with Persian. During middle school, I became serious about English. It stemmed from a desire to study in America one day. So I started looking for reading material other than a boring 90s textbook series, The New American Streamline, that they still taught at Kabul’s various English learning centers. There were no English bookstores in Kabul, particularly after the war, so finding books proved to be difficult. One day, a friend of mine returned from a science contest in Korea with a few John Grisham novels he had bought at the airport. So, for a while, he was my favorite author.

NK: As an economics major, why did you want to work with a literary journal?

FN: I have always had an interest in writing, mostly because I want to share stories from my experiences in Afghanistan with audiences on this side of the world. That’s the main motivation. But going forward, the only way I see myself putting my econ degree to good use is potentially by starting adventure sports back home. And hence, [adventure] writing! Last semester, I took a creative writing class with Professor Christopher Shaw, and he really encouraged me to write more, and to check out NER, which I really enjoyed reading during study breaks at the library.

NK: What do you enjoy most about interning at NER?

FN: My initial interest in the NER came from my desire to read submissions, and to get familiar with the kinds of work that appeals to people. So I really enjoy learning about the publication process. Thursday discussions with the fiction editor are definitely a favorite. The NER workspace and culture is really enjoyable, too. I’m definitely happy to be part of a successful organization dedicated to spreading the literary arts, a good customer service, and engaging Middlebury College and its community with the literary world.

NK: What are some of your favorite books?

FN: John Grisham . . . just kidding! It’s hard these days to pick a favorite author or a book. I think I am still in search of that, especially in my limited experience with Western literature. But so far . . . Metamorphosis and One Hundred Years of Solitude. I wouldn’t necessarily say these are my ultimate favorites though. I am still looking.

NK: How do you spend your free time? 

FN: I am an avid, competitive mountain biker, which consumes a good chunk of my time. These days, I am trying to learn cross-country skiing. Sometimes, I do Persian calligraphy and drawing (to take a break from data analysis). Lately, my evenings have also been taken over by brewing homemade Chai and sitting around the fireplace with a group of friends for good conversation. And if none of this proves worthy of my free time, I jump on a bus and explore a city, and take photographs of random city life.    

NK: What do you hope to do when you graduate college, and how do you think working with NER will help or influence you?

FN: After graduation, I hope to fully focus on mountain bike racing. I am passionate about starting the sport of mountain biking back home in Afghanistan, building trails, and growing the outdoors community. I will chase these personal dreams for a few years and see where it leads. I would like to write a lot about these adventures, and I believe my experience with NER will be very helpful.

 

Nick Kaye grew up in Bangor, Maine. He recently completed his thesis in English and American Literatures and will graduate from Middlebury College this May. He is anxiously trying to figure out what’s next after college.

Farid Noori: Why did you choose to come to your neighboring state for college?

Nick Kaye: I really loved growing up in Maine—the sense of community, the woods, the water, and everything else. Looking at colleges, I knew I wanted to go somewhere that was familiar but also new. That’s what brought me to Vermont. It’s a lot like Maine, but there’s something about the culture and the landscape that feels fresh and distinctive.

FN: Why are you interested in literature?

NK: It’s hard for me to remember exactly when I took a liking to literature. I remember thinking as a kid that books had a certain mystique about them, and I wanted in on it. I spent a lot of time pretending to understand books that I couldn’t yet understand, and then, after long enough, I realized that I’d actually begun to appreciate what I was reading. I think I was part of the way through Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea when I had one of those epiphanies.

In college, I’ve had some really wonderful professors who encouraged my interest in literature. Timothy Billings, my academic advisor, taught me how to talk about literature in a way that is clear and meaningful; Maria Hatjigeorgiou set a fire in my mind with her class Literature and the Mystical Experience; and Christopher Shaw, my thesis advisor, showed me how to write sentences that people actually want to read, instead of getting caught up with academic jargon.

FN: What brings you to NER?

NK: I’ve been interested in literary magazines for a while now. I worked with my high school literary magazine, Mosaic, back in Maine, and here at Middlebury I’m co-editor-in-chief of Blackbird, which publishes students’ prose, poetry, and visual art. I think one of the most exciting things about working with a literary magazine is being the first one to read someone’s work. In college, you’re often taught to rely on existing criticism to interpret and evaluate a text, but when you’re working for publication like this, you’re forced to come up with wholly original ideas about the text. I think that’s an incredibly important and underdeveloped skill for many. 

FN: What are some of your favorite books?

NK: This is tough. I really enjoy writing that’s concerned with mysticism and religious experience—Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek and For The Time Being, for example, or Flannery O’Connor’s short stories. I also love writers who are deranged, off-the-rails alcoholics. Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is one of my favorites, and so is Charles Bukowski’s poetry collection Love Is a Dog from Hell.

FN: Where do you want to go next after graduation?

NK: Great question. This is pretty much what I’ve been thinking about every day for the last couple months. I’m applying for a wide variety of jobs in writing and editing, publishing, and marketing. I’m open to all different locations, but I’ve mainly been eyeing Seattle and New York City. I’d be happy with any job where I get to apply my writing skills to something that isn’t mind-numbingly boring. If I get to work with literature, that would be ideal. (Readers, please hire me!)[We highly recommend him! —The Editors]

FN: What’s something you have always wanted to do, but haven’t done yet?

NK: Submit my own work to a literary journal. I write short stories and narrative essays here and there, but I haven’t made an effort to develop any particular piece for publication. I would love to set aside more time for my creative writing. Working somewhere like NER is incredibly inspiring as a writer because you really begin to understand what makes a piece of writing work or not work—what makes something actually enjoyable to read. I can’t wait to use what I’ve learned here toward my own writing.

FN: Dogs or cats?

NK: Oh, man. I have both dogs and cats at home, so it would probably be totally uncool to choose favorites. Wouldn’t want to hurt any feelings. That said, I’m super excited to be taking care of our new office manager Elizabeth Sutton’s cat, Richard Parker, next week. Not being able to hang with your pets is undoubtedly one of the worst parts of college.  

Filed Under: Interns, NER Community, News & Notes Tagged With: Farid Noori, Meet the Interns, Nick Kaye


Vol. 43, No. 4

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Tomas Venclova

Literature & Democracy

Tomas Venclova

“A principled stance against aggression should never turn into blind hatred. Such hatred does not help anyone to win . . .”

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