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Shootin’ the Breeze with Jen Vihon

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Kenyon chapter.

Name: Jen Vihon
Year: 2013

You have been named Campus Celebrity of the week. How do you feel? Thoughts? Emotions?
It’s pretty flattering, I guess! Does this mean that I’m like Lindsay Lohan? (Laughs) Sorry don’t write that. No, but actually I’m very flattered Her Campus has named me a celebrity without any help from MADE.

Ha. Speaking of MADE, did you audition? What would you have wanted to be MADE into?
No, I did not audition. However, I probably would have tried out to become a chef.

Mmmm do you cook? It must be hard to cook here with the monopoly of Peirce.
Kind of, though as people at Kenyon get older they tend to rely less on Peirce as their primary social area and therefore are more willing to eat a meal in someone’s apartment.

No one invites me to their apartment for a meal!
Oh man, we’ll have to fix that!  I got really into making bread this summer when I figured out a good recipe. I also had a preserves business this summer.

What is a preserves business?
Preserves are basically jam, but the fruit isn’t as finely crushed.

Oh preserves!  So, it seems like you have a little bit of chef in you already.
Kind of, yeah! I’m actually learning French right now to maybe go into the food industry.

Interesting. Are you thinking after you graduate? Are you going abroad?
I’m not going abroad during school, which is part of the reason why I want to go abroad so badly after college. I have a cousin who teaches English in Madrid, and when we saw her boss at a bar, he offered me a job…probably because he had too much to drink…but maybe I’ll do that?

That’s awesome! So you just started French? How’s that going?
Indeed, very well. It’s fun being in a class with all first-years because you feel very older sibling-y when they ask you questions about Kenyon. That said, I’m pretty sure they all walk away from class under the impression I’m insane, in which I take a lot of satisfaction.

You can be the insane older sibling I guess! Okay last question, the best question of all: What are the activities that you do on campus aside from studying French?
Or being insane? I play piano pretty religiously (even though I’m not that good). I’m in Archons and PEAS. I also love cooking with the food co-op; they’re really passionate about supporting local foods. I’m also a CA for Leonard, which is a ton of fun!

Caroline Black is a senior Drama major at Kenyon College. In addition to co-founding and writing for her school's HC branch, Caroline is co-president of Beer and Sex, Kenyon's student-run freshman orientation program (and she enjoys making jokes about that title as much as you do). When she's not doing hippy-dippy acting warm-ups or volunteering with her service organization, The Archon Society, Caroline enjoys watching "Parks and Recreation" and dismaying her friends with terrible puns.