Nathan Sarapas

Name: Nathan Sarapas

Major: Civil Engineering

Birthday: 1 May, 1991

Hometown: Hampstead, New Hampshire

Campus Clubs and Organizations: Christian Bible Fellowship

Hobbies: Camping, hiking, philosophizing, photography, public speaking, playing any kind of competitive sport, reading, writing.

Favorite Color: Green

Favorite Holiday: April Fool’s

Favorite Music Artist: James Taylor

Favorite Movie: Good Night, and Good Luck

Describe yourself in three words: Adventurous, a Boy Scout, and Christian

Favorite Quotes: When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies? Perhaps to be too practical is madness. To surrender dreams—this may be madness. To seek treasure where there is only trash. Too much sanity may be madness. And maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be.-Miguel de Cervantes/Don Quijote, Man of La Mancha

We will not walk in fear of one another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason. If we dig deep in our history and doctrine and remember that we are not descended from fearful men, not from men who feared to write, to associate, to speak, and to defend the causes that were for the moment unpopular-Edward R Murrow

The Future will not belong to those who are content with the present. The future will not belong to cynics and people who sit on the sidelines. The future will belong to people who have passion and are willing to work hard to make this country better – Senator Paul Wellstone

All things that are were once nothing. Everything was once impossible.

Why did you choose the Cape Town Project Centre?

I chose Cape Town for two main reasons. The first is many of my friends had gone to Cape Town. The second is at the informational session, the speaker said they were looking for adventurous people to go. There was no question in my mind where I was going. Adventure? Bring it on!

How has this project affected you?

Living in the United States doesn’t allow me to experience other cultures easily, even with the Discovery Channel. No television could capture culture accurately. Culture is something you breathe in. I’ve learned more about how other people live, values can differ, and much we can share in common. Every day gives me more understanding and changes the way I think and operate. It calls to mind a poem I heard once.

“Stop this day and night with me and you shall possess the origin of all poems,
You shall possess the good of the earth and sun (there are millions of suns left),
You shall no longer take things at second or third hand, nor look through the eyes of the dead, nor feed on the specters in books,
You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me,
You shall listen to all sides and filter them from yourself.”

-From Walt Whitman’s “Houses and Rooms are Full of Perfumes, the Shelves are Crowded with Perfumes”

What is your most cherished Cape Town memory?

My favorite memory of Cape Town is climbing Table Mountain. Scaling Table Mountain is no small feat, with it being more than a thousand meters high. The journey starts at the cable car station, which is halfway up the mountain, but still many hours from the top. In my time here, I have scaled the mountain more than once, but I will remember the second time for a while. I hiked up with four others on a beautiful and windy day. Reaching the top gave such a feeling of victory. The walk around on top was so uplifting. We were literally walking in clouds. They would clear to reveal cliffs, shorelines, Cape Town, Robben Island, and a rainbow in the gorge. The winds were fierce and dangerous, but it only made us feel more alive.