Noah Trepanier

Name: Noah Trepanier
Major: History
Minor: Latin American Studies, Legal Studies
Graduation: April 2025

Hi! I'm Noah from San Diego, but my parents, like many other Californian members of the Church, moved up to Utah during the pandemic, so now I call the Beehive State home. I love reading, hiking (when it isn't freezing), and playing and watching sports. My favorites in no particular order are baseball, basketball, football (both American and Association), cycling, tennis, and Gaelic football.

What's one item on your bucket list?

I've had a long-standing goal to read a biography of every US president. I'm currently working on Number 35/45, George HW Bush. In terms of writing and research quality, the best so far has been Robert Caro's "The Years of Lyndon Johnson" (by an impressively wide margin) and the worst has ironically been "The Worst President: The Story of James Buchanan" by Garry Boulard.

What sparked your interest in your major?

I've always loved history. In high school, I got really into reading US Supreme Court opinions and realized that I wanted to go to law school. I realized that history was an effective way to learn more about the law and how to read and write effectively. Thanks to that, I declared as a history major the summer before my freshman year and haven't looked back.

When you have 30 minutes of free time, what do you do?

That I don't play basketball. I'm pretty tall and played all throughout high school, but injuries really took a toll on my love of playing the game. I still love watching it (go Lakers!) but can't enjoy playing it much anymore because of the fear I associate it with.

Why did you decide to join the Honors Program?

I joined because 18-year-old me didn't know what "interdisciplinary" meant and I wanted to learn more. I stayed for that and the community. Honors have given me the opportunity to interact with some of the coolest and most intelligent people (both other students and professors) I've ever met.

What has been your favorite Honors experience?

Honors 225: The Destruction of Atoms and the Creation of Modern Society was a fantastic class. I took it a year ago, but I still read books related to the scientists who participated in the Manhattan Project, the development of hydrogen bombs, and I'm considering writing my Honors Thesis on an aspect of Cold War secrecy politics thanks to that class.

What is your next step in Honors? (Specific class, thesis proposal/defense, etc.)

This semester I'll be taking Honors 310 and I plan on competing my LDE over Spring Term. After that, I'll begin seeking approval for my thesis, which will focus either on a 20th century historian of the US nuclear arsenal named Chuck Hansen or the historical origins of the British Supreme Court.