As the fall semester comes to an end, the stress of finals weighs on almost every Gustie. Spencer Kight, a junior mathematics and statistics double major from Sartell, Minnesota prefers to stay chill with either his guitar or upright bass in hand.
Spencer is a part of Jazz band, a Colligate Fellow, Omega Kappa (ΩK) fraternity, Vice President of Math and Computer Science Club, as well as a tour guide.
Spencer’s first year at Gustavus created some lasting memories and lifelong friends.
“Freshman year I had a habit of taking naps in really random places. Mostly in the lounge in my section in Coed,” Spencer said. “[My favorite] memory I had of those [naps] was when I would wake up to someone wrapping me in a blanket and taking my glasses off. We took good care of each other. It was kind of sweet.”
Spencer made a strong bond with William Scott right from the beginning.
“I had connected with Zak Khan over Facebook the summer before college, because we had our FTS class together and we are both passionate about music,” Scott said. “Zak and Spencer were roommates freshman year, so I met him when I was hanging out with Zak in their room. We bonded over mutual interest in music. We really started to get to know each sophomore year when we were next-door neighbors in Sorenson.”
Through their time together being friends, Scott and Spencer found out they truly lived in a small world.
“I always appreciate our interactions because they usually make me laugh.” —William Scott
“Spencer used to go to a lot of concerts around Minneapolis when he was in high school,” Scott said. “After we had talked about music and bands that we had played in, he said he remembered seeing my band live at a venue in Burnsville, MN a long time ago.”
Henry Adebisi, a close friend of Spencer and fellow OK, also shared his first meeting with Spencer.
“Everybody was being super awkward at the First-year dive and we were ridiculously dancing together,” Adebisi said.
“Funny, loyal, and driven” are common words people choose to describe Spencer.
“I always appreciate our interactions, because they usually make me laugh and always improve my day at least a little bit,” Scott said.
Spencer joined the Omega Kappa fraternity his sophomore year at Gustavus, and as a result, gained a new family in the Gustavus community.
“I have gained a pretty awesome fan club. Whenever I do things, like when I spoke in Chapel last year, a group of OKs came to that. I also have them cheering me on during Midnight Express while I’m playing in the Jazz Band. Just being a part of the OKs has given me something to be proud of, too, because when we do Africa Jam or host Cards for a Cause Night, I can just look back on that and just feel the positive impact that we had on the community. We offer different perspectives. We are a very diverse fraternity, we have people from all different fields of study and we kind of help each other out. We form our own little tutor group for each subject, like I would help someone with statistics and they would help me with biology. It kind of works its way around,” Spencer said.
The OKs were one of the four local Greek chapters which were given a suspension for the upcoming academic year. This has essentially restricted many Greeks, like Spencer, from having organized activities with his brothers.
“It’s been a family. Because of the recent suspensions, it has been loss of having a support group a little bit, so that is rough,” Spencer said.
Every student that goes to Gustavus possesses one or all values of Gustavus. Spencer’s peers agree that he exemplifies community.
“Spencer is a cunning example of community because he does a really good job at being positive and spreading good vibes throughout the community,” Adebisi said.
“Spencer is a great member of the Gustavus community. He values the time he is spending here at Gustavus, he is passionate about learning and he makes strong connections with people. I followed him around Nobel one time while he was giving a tour to a prospective student. In his low-key, chill way he exuded passion for Gustavus that the student and parent were clearly connecting with,” Spencer’s general chemistry professor and lab instructor Jeff Jeremiason said.
As a junior, Spencer has already started to think of the future after Gustavus.
“Ideally I would love to move to Hawaii and open up a barbecue pork joint right on the beach. That is the dream right there,” Spencer said. “But I probably wouldn’t be there for that long because I love Minnesota, so right now I am looking for a data analysis job at either United Health Group or the Mayo Clinic. I am also looking into shadowing an Oncology Pharmacist this Christmas break or just being a sort of applied mathematician at an engineering firm.”