Fun, farce, and fanfare: USU’s Nerdy Talent Show

As part of the festivities rounding up Engineering Week, the Society of Women Engineers organized a talent show with a twist: the more nerdy the entry, the better.

Participants didn’t disappoint, with talents ranging from original songs to mathematical wizardry and from deceitful origami to team jump rope tricks.

Amy Carmellini, the Vice President of Activities for SWE, directed the event. She said her main goal was that the Engineering Week activities would bring students together to have a good time.

Paul “Pablo Honey” Consalvo performs a rendition of ‘Paranoid Android’ by Radiohead at the SWE Talent Show on February 21st

In addition to being involved with SWE, Carmellini also organized the cardboard boat races. “We put on a number of events that are meant to further students in their careers,” she said.

Activities like this help bring people with niche talents out of the woodwork and into the limelight. This is what happened for Alex Beeston, a contestant who explained chess tactics and displayed his expertise with a few real-time challenges online.

Beeston said he enjoyed this venue because it is a great opportunity to “be yourself and share what you are good at.”

Beeston said his inclination toward chess began when he was a kid playing with his dad. Several other contestants also expressed that their affinity for their talent began at a young age.

Chad Withers developed his talent in the second grade when he “got annoyed with not doing well on spelling tests.” Withers can now hear any sentence and instantly tell you how many letters are in that sentence. Even more impressive is that he can do this not just in English, but in Spanish as well.

Joshua Carpenter is a student of business at USU who attended the event. He said the best part of spectating was “to see so many people with similar backgrounds celebrate individualities.” He went on to say that the event was a “fun reminder that we aren’t all only defined by our majors and associated stereotypes.”

When the show came to an end, the judges handed out prizes for first, second, and third place, as well as prizes for Most Nerdy Talent and Most Unique Talent.

First prize went to Chad Withers and his linguistic sums, second prize went to Oscar Silva for his side-splitting comedy act throwing shade at business majors, and third place was Pablo Honey for his unique renditions of Radiohead favorites. The prize for Most Unique Talent went to Levi Manley for showcasing an original song, and Alex Beeston won Nerdiest Talent with his chess skills.

To learn more about SWE and the other engineering clubs on campus, check out the USU College of Engineering’s club list.

—sladeabigail@aggiemail.usu.edu

@sladeabigail