Lighthearted & Lively: Lillie
Lillie Russell is a first-year student from Woodstock, Georgia and a member of the Beta Class of Delta Phi Epsilon. Outside of Greek Life, Lillie is involved with the Visitors Center as a Tour Guide, Freshman Forum as the Historian, the Freshley and Wesley Ministries, a Breaking the Shackles Videographer, and just enjoying being a freshman! Currently, Lillie is pursuing a double major in International Affairs and Entertainment Media Studies.
Lillie claims that she has known since she was little that she would be a Bulldawg one day, but she started to look into out-of-state schools during her senior year. Lillie asserts, "I was mentally unsure about which college to choose, but as cheesy as it may sound, my heart knew the answer all along. I excitedly decided around January and announced to everyone that I would be a member of the Class of 2020 at UGA!" Now as an active student, Lillie loves spending time in the Lamar Dodd School of Art. She does not have any classes there, but the atmosphere inspires her heart. Off campus, she often finds herself either at the Jittery Joes on Broad Street or in PineView to see her friends and watch the sunset or play Bananagrams.
Lillie has two vivid memories from her first semester at UGA. First, she attempted to sleep at the Iron Horse the second month of school with some friends. Around 4am, the group grew scared and retreated to the warmth and safety of Snelling. They decided to throw a dance party with everyone who was there, singing anything from "Alexander Hamilton" to "Blank Space." The camaraderie found in this, just a few weeks into the year, really solidified to Lillie that she made the right decision in choosing UGA.
Her second favorite memory took place during finals week in December 2016, when she decided to make a music video. Lillie gathered a couple of friends, charged her phone, and began to shoot. The group was already in Bolton, so they started filming people dancing there. Once they received footage of all of their friends, they decided to continue the endeavor, but across the street in the MLC. Considering it was the night before the Chemistry final, the MLC was packed with extremely stressed college students. Lillie and her friends had a mission to alleviate any tension by having the strangers in the MLC take part in their music video. They made a sign signaling for people to dance and put it up on the glass of every MLC study room, all while filming the various reactions. Lillie claims that "it was so joyous to be able to bring some light and fun into everyone’s night."