Chewing the Fat with Francesca Fox-Gitomer

Inge Hoogerhuis reached out to the Pigeon Press last month with the idea that we start a new feature where we “ask a student or teacher some cool questions” to spotlight the wonderful community we have at the school. The staff took the idea and ran, coming up with 20 Northwest Academy-style questions. This week we are featuring junior Francesca Fox-Gitomer.

1. How did you parents choose your name?

My name is the feminine version of a family name (Frank). People always ask if it’s Italian (I am not remotely Italian).

2. What’s the most interesting dream you’ve had?

I write down my dreams and I would highly recommend that practice. I’ve had some crazy dreams about shaving my head, driving off cliffs. I even had a dream I was playing dodgeball with Lil Uzi Vert.

3. Do you think you’re an introvert or an extrovert? Why?

I would say I’m an ambivert. This seems like a cop out answer, but I need alone time just as much as I need to be around people. Quarantine has definitely not been a fun time and the balance has been skewed a bit and now I really want to hang out with anything with a pulse, but being responsible is more important.

4. What’s the worst (least effective) way you’ve tried to cope with quarantine?

Denial was probably the worst one. Pretending like I chose to be alone in my house all the time was not a good move for my mental health. Starting lots of art projects was a better use of all of this time.

5. What was your closest call with death?

Thankfully I haven’t had any super close extreme encounters with a violent end. The only thing I can think of is my dealings with chronic illness. Before I got diagnosed with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), I was dealing with its web of symptoms. No doctor seemed to know what was going on. Without any answers my brain began catastrophizing, “Oh god, it’s brain cancer” (It was not brain cancer).

6. What/who has influenced you the most in your life and why?

This is a hard question but I would have to pick my middle school best friend, Tam. Becoming aware of the world’s misfortunes seems to be synonymous with that age. Having someone next to me, experiencing the same things with a brain that functioned similarly to mine was invaluable. The feeling of not floating through life in isolation took the punch out of that time.

7. What is your dream job?

My dream job is to make ceramics all day long and have a ridiculous garden, but that’s not super financially viable. I also care deeply about the health of humanity. As hippy dippy as it sounds, I want to take the art that gave me so much peace and throw it at as many people as I can. Whether that be art therapy or becoming a teacher, I have to do something with it otherwise that seems selfish.

8. What is an object you will keep your entire life and why?

Probably my mom’s guitar. She got it at a pawn shop and it’s an antique. It connects me to her and it’s a solid guitar too. Learning how to play was the best decision I’ve made in the past year.

9. If anything, what about you has changed during your time at NWA?

I haven’t been at NWA for a very long time but there has been a change. I don’t feel stupid in school anymore. I would say that’s a solid step up.

10. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

My superpower of choice is to change people’s minds whether it’s through intense charisma or full-blown telepathy. Telepathy seems a lot cooler, but I just want to make a change that lasts longer than my lifetime otherwise the thing would just disappear when I die. I would use it to stop climate meltdown, redistribute wealth and improve the quality of life for as many people as possible. It sounds kinda LARPy but it’s true.

11. If you had to bring one comically large or comically small item to an abandoned island, what would it be and why?

If I could take one thing it would probably be a fully stocked, fully-manned ship. Kind of a loophole answer, but I read Lord of the Flies. I’m not super into the idea of that. I would like to believe my survival and communication skills are better than those boys but I’m not taking any chances.

12. What’s your worst fear?

Oooh probably living an unfulfilling life. Since I can’t count on there being anything beyond those 80-ish years, I wanna have a good time while I’m here. A kind of Epicureanism.

13. What gives your life meaning?

To me life gains its meaning in nihilism. Because nothing matters why not choose to have the best dang time you can muster. Do it out of genuine desire or out of spite. The choice is yours (but it doesn’t matter).

14. If you could have any famous dead person as the president of the USA, who would it be and why?

That’s a tough one. I’m going to answer based on entertainment value because condensing my ideal America into the beliefs of one person stresses me out. I kinda want to see if our Senate could resist stabbing Julius Caesar to death.

15. With 15 minutes until nuclear annihilation, what snack would you want to be your last?

I’m down to eat some salt & vinegar chips and nectarines while the world gets blasted into oblivion

16. What’s your biggest kitchen screw-up?

I can’t think of any but one time my sister made cookies and she accidentally spilled most of a bottle of almond extract into the mixing bowl. I’m pretty sure the cookies had about 5% ABV.

17. What’s the worst injury you’ve had? What happened?

The worst injury I’ve had was a herniated disk in my lumbar spine. One of the symptoms of POTS is joint instability and the spine is a bunch of joints stacked on top of each other. I was in physical therapy for about six months to help reduce my pain and increase my ability to function. It’s strange because most eighth graders wouldn’t have to think about the implications of getting in and out of a car seat on the rest of their day. I think it’s the worst injury I’ve had because the recovery was so long and it made things like going to school and having to carry around books quite difficult. It also caused radiating pain down my legs which wasn’t super fun. I still have pain but it’s about long term management.

18. What’s something most people disagree with you about?

I have a hard time being friends with people who are indifferent about politics. Whether the opinion is social or economic, the ability to disconnect is one of privilege. Also when people advocate for centrism. Creating a false sense of neutrality on an issue where there is a scientifically demonstrable correct position is an error I have a hard time excusing. There isn’t virtue in listening to multiple perspectives when one or more is actively hostile or anti-science. Whether it is in the name of free speech or not, if intolerance is tolerated, tolerance itself ceases to exist.

19. What’s your favorite type of bad weather and why?

My favorite type of bad weather is a thunderstorm. We don’t get many in Portland and I wish we did. Not only are they visually stunning, they give me something to reflect on. I think they’re a great example of Kant’s sublime. Thunderstorms’ massive, violent, erratic nature makes me reflect on my own place and the beautiful improbability of me being me. It’s much more likely to be struck by lightning than to recreate the terms which shape a person and I think that’s terrifyingly cool.

20. What’s the most useless talent you have?

I learned at one point last year I can do bird calls because I have a slight gap tooth. I would unconsciously do it in class when I was concentrating and one of my classmates had a bird and it would set off this chain reaction of event where he would whip around to see what was happening and then other people would ask why he was on edge all of a sudden. Sorry about that one, Mario. I can also yawn on command but that’s barely a talent.