In this edition of Sundt's Scribes, Hal Sundt talks with freshman teammate Jesse Neugarten and gives you a glimpse into his not-so-easy life growing up in South Africa.
Jesse Neugarten and I are walking across North campus having just finished an evening basketball practice. As we make our way to Stevenson Dining Hall I hold a tape recorder to his face and begin asking him questions like what are you interested in? and where are you from? Neugarten is bundled up in a red Oberlin sweatshirt with the hood pulled tightly around his face and a heavy winter jacket across his shoulders. The jacket, I assume, is new once I learn that Neugarten has spent his entire life in warm weather places.
Neugarten was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. As we walk he discusses the dangers he faced living in South Africa with the casual demeanor of someone talking about the traffic in New York City or the snow in Minnesota or the smog in Los Angeles. Kidnappings, hijackings and robberies were commonplace.
“Johannesburg was probably one of the most dangerous cities so we moved to Cape Town so we could be safer,” Neugarten explains.
Cape Town may have been a step up from Johannesburg, and it was a place the Neugartens enjoyed living, but the family still had to take serious precautions on a daily basis.
“I really liked it, but I couldn't really go outside by myself,” Neugarten says. “I had to always be outside with a parent.”
“Every house is enclosed with huge fences so when you're driving in at night and you drive into your garage you don't get out of the car until the gate is closed behind you.”
Neugarten had family friends who were killed because people slipped in before the gate was closed. His grandfather once had his car stolen by a group of people who coaxed him into pulling over for having a phantom flat tire, only to rob him at gunpoint and drive away moments later, all four wheels perfectly inflated.
Eventually the Neugartens moved to San Diego in search of a safer lifestyle and it was there that Neugarten really shined as an athlete. A former soccer player, his deft footwork on the court can be attributed to his futbol playing days. Over the course of his high school career, Neugarten developed into a pure point guard; someone with a tight handle, a lightning-quick first step and a knack for hitting the open man.
And this Spring Neugarten will trade in his basketball shoes for track spikes. However, it wasn't until his senior year of high school that he considered running track.
“With track I always thought it was stupid, just running around a track. All my friends would say 'Oh, you can't beat me!' Because they all ran. And my senior year I decided to run. I ran the 400-meter dash and ended up 6th all-time in the history of my school.”
Neugarten's mother is an avid runner herself having participated in triathlons, the New York Marathon and the Iron Man competition.
Aside from his affinity for athletics, Neugarten has used his time at Oberlin to expand his academic and extracurricular interests. He is considering majoring in Economics and in his free time he has been working on his other passion: music.
On long road trips for basketball, Neugarten often sits by himself with big round headphones over his head and his eyes focused on his laptop. On these occasions he is not watching movies or writing; he is making “beats,” creating rhythms and mixing sounds that can then be used by aspiring rappers and techno-artists.
“A song has always caught my attention if the beat is good,” recalls Neugarten, who particularly enjoys the up-and-comer Aesop Rocky. “And my best friend in high school makes techno music and I liked that.”
“It's fun creating something,” he says sounding like a true, albeit cold, point guard.
