David Foster Wallace was arguably one of Amherst College’s coolest and most impressive alums. He was born in Ithaca, New York, but his family moved to Urbana, Illinois when he was in fourth grade. Wallace was a member of the Amherst class of ’85.
Talk about an overachiever. As a kid, he was a regionally ranked tennis player. At Amherst, he double majored in English and Philosophy. In his philosophy major he focused on modal logic and mathematics. And the guy wrote two theses! I’m scared enough about the idea of writing one. His Philosophy thesis, Richard Taylor’s ‘Fatalism’ and the Semantics of Physical Modality, was awarded the Gail Kennedy Memorial Prize (an Amherst prize given to outstanding Philosophy majors each year). His English senior thesis, The Broom of the System, would later become his first published novel
Wallace has an impressive list of accomplishments and published works, including his well-known novel Infinite Jest. Another really cool thing David Foster Wallace did was give this amazing commencement address to the graduating class at Kenyon College in 2005. The speech, which was later published in his book This is Water, is about how easy it is to get caught up in your own inner monologue and your own needs, and totally tune out the world around you. Instead of thinking about the crappy day all those other seemingly obnoxious people in the check out line at the grocery store are having, and the fact that they may well be worse off or in more of a rush than you are, you just think about how annoying they are for being there, for existing, and for slowing down your day. This can apply to your everyday classroom experience at Amherst. It’s easy to just space out in lecture, and think about yourself, and your own needs, and how bored you are. But life is so much more interesting if you shake yourself out of your inner monologue and actually pay attention. I know, I know; that’s easier said than done. Wallace would say it’s worth the effort.
Wallace suffered from depression. On September 12, 2008, he hung myself. Memorial services were held in his honor at Amherst, and at Pomona College and University of Arizona, where he attended graduate school. He definitely left quite an impressive legacy behind him.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Amherst chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.