Name: Alex Dickey

Track: “Married to Your Morals” and “Colorful Language”

Education: UC Berkeley ’14

Hometown: Carmel, California

What is success?The short answer is, “it depends.” I guess, generally, success is a product of an action that causes you to feel good. If I’ve gotten what I want, I’d usually say I was successful.

How was your 18-year-old self naive?Aside from all things romantic: I think my 18-year-old self was naive in the same ways my 22-year-old self is naive, except my 22-year-old self should know better by now. “Things will work out one way or another, your life won’t end if ___ doesn’t go the way you want,” etc., etc.

What one-word description would you find most flattering? Sincere.

What do you wish people weren’t judged for? Any and all things bedroom related.

What ethical question confounds you? “At what point have I stopped being a good person that does bad things, and started being a bad person?” 

In a sentence, be the biggest critic of your writing: I’m a self-conscious writer, and I’m afraid that shows. I couldn’t even answer this question directly because I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to take on the persona of an externalized critic, or respond as me, my own internalized critic. But now I’m thinking about it, that self-consciousness might manifest itself more in process than in product. I don’t know. Fuck you.

How would you hope to be impressed by your future self? I would be most impressed if my future self was happy. I don’t yet really care what he’d be doing, but if he’s glad to be doing whatever that may be, I couldn’t ask for too much more.