#17 - Jesse Ekanya: Being a Nonchalant, Uganda, and Civil Engineering

Jesse Ekanya is a civil engineering student who was born in the United States but moved to Uganda at an early age. He lived there until 2020 when he moved to States to study civil engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  Jesse is an interesting character who blends intelligence, popular culture, wit, and a love for building things. He wants to become a civil engineer working on airport infrastructure and at night, he'll probably spend his time as a social media star.  This is a wide-ranging conversation where you learn intellectual topics, reflect on your life choices, and have many laughs.  This is The UIUC Talkshow! EPISODE LINKS: Jesse Ekanya's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jesse-ekanya Jesse Ekanya's Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/jesseekanya OUTLINE: 0:00 - Introduction 1:23 - Majors became our identity 7:40 - Caring about what others think 15:15 - Growing up in Uganda 24:36 - Restricted social media 28:38 - Why Jesse uses social media 32:51 - First job 35:15 - First viral TikTok 38:18 - Jesse's "For You" Page 41:05 - Civil engineering 44:45 - Most people don't agree with this view 50:35 - Time travel 58:20 - Complex numbers 1:04:14 - Imagination  1:08:40 - What kills imagination? 1:12:48 - Herd mentality 1:21:40 - The "right answers" society gives us 1:25:20 - Living in the present 1:29:52 - Being alone and nervousness 1:35:58 - The energy paradox 1:36:54 - Advice for young people 1:37:22 - Trouble connecting with people 1:39:20 - What we spend time on 1:43:42 - Being a "nonchalant" 🚥Overrated or Underrated Section 🚥 1:48:40 - 🫵 Spending time by yourself 1:49:45 - ⚽️ Manchester United 1:50:00 - 💪 Cristiano Ronaldo 1:50:15 - 🇺🇬 Uganda's Government 1:50:26 - 🏔 Everett, WA 1:50:38 - ⛏ Civil Engineering Internships 1:51:04 - 🥰 PraireLearn 1:51:57 - Closing Words SOCIAL: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uiuctalkshow Twitter: https://twitter.com/uiuctalkshow TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@uiuctalkshow Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3ezoc4xJa4DrGq7N4lhqQn Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-uiuc-talkshow/id1611427075 Full episodes playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1H9UJqXvJXr3qlx9c89Rv76c6IpnwGeC Clips playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1H9UJqXvJXqdyEq7fuyUz9cmpdfqN1Rb What is the UIUC Talkshow? Our goal with this show is to introduce to the most interesting people and most interesting people from the UIUC campus. Learn more about Juan David & Aaryaman: Aaryaman https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaryaman-patel-779437205/ Juan David Website: https://www.juandavidcampolargo.com/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/jdcampolargo  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jdcampolargo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jdcampolargo/