Tatiana Pless is a woman of many talents. She’s my hall counselor (the best in my opinion), she’s a princess (literally), she’s a Bonner Scholar, but most of all she’s an incredibly kind, driven young woman. So this week, Her Campus is profiling Ms. Pless. Read on to find out more about this incredible student!
Name: Tatiana Pless (other titles include “Hall Mama,” “Tati,” “Ezekiel Elliott’s future wife,” “Pootie Tang” (don’t ask), and/or “TaterTot”)
Year: Sophomore
Major: Digital Art, possibly Computer Science
Dream job: Pixar Animator
Favorite sayings: *done with your sh*@ expression* followed by “boiiii”
How to win her over: “Be respectful. Be loyal” (or be Ezekiel Elliott)
Favorite song to rap along to: Anything J. Cole, especially 2014 Forest Hills Drive
Favorite accessory: A huge gallon of apple juice (literally she carries an actual gallon around with her)
Relationship status: “Team forever alone”
Dream husband: *sighs longingly* “Ezekiel Elliott” (pictured below so that you can understand her obsession with him)
I caught up with Tatiana at the BSC as she cooked for her hall babies this Friday. The menu included traditional Samoan ribs *drool,* rice, baked beans, and cookies. Besides being my hall mama, Tatiana is a Samoan princess (yes, you heard me), an army brat, an actress, a model, former beauty queen, and an aspiring animator. If you weren’t already impressed, she’s also a REALLY great cook. (Surprisingly, she’s also single, so if you resemble in any way, shape, or form her running back Dallas Cowboys crush Ezekiel Elliott, feel free to forward her your resume). Oh, and she’s also a humungous geek.
Though you wouldn’t have guessed it, Tati loves cartoons. A true kid at heart, you can usually find her cuddled up in her room watching The Amazing Life of Gumball or streaming Naruto (her favorite) on Netflix. Her aspiration is to one day make an animated show of her own.
“I love watching cartoons. My favorites would have to be Johnny Bravo *Tati proceeds to do the Johnny Bravo “huhahuu” dance,* Hey, Arnold!, and Ren and Stimpy.”
As you could have guessed, Tati, being the true Samoan princess that she is (her Papa (grandfather) is a Chieftain of a Samoan village) and lover of all things animated, is SUPER pumped for Moana to come out, Disney’s newest film set in Samoa.
“My mom’s dad is a chief of a village in Samoa. His last name is a very powerful name in Samoa. When people there hear it, they know to respect you, so it does kind of make me a princess. But I am really excited for Moana. When the trailer came out, I heard the Rock, who is also Samoan, said our chant. My mom is ready to criticize, though. She wants them to embody the island life right,” Tati said as she basted the most amazing sauce over the Samoan ribs cooking in the oven.
Tatiana also performed traditional Samoan dancing during the International Fair!
Her father, who was born in Germany, was in the military, so Tatiana and her older brother have lived all over the country and the globe. “I was born in Virginia Beach, then we lived in Germany for four years because my father was in the military, and then we moved to Samoa for a year, and then finally to Fayetteville, North Carolina,” Tati said.
Tati made her big stage debut last year in Davidson’s rendition of Clybourne Park (which I saw and she was A M A Z I N G). She also performed in the recent fall production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. If you see her around campus, make sure to give her a congrats on another performance well done.
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