Name: Danielle Wirsansky
Major: Dual degree in Theatre and Creative Writing (Minor in History)
Year: Junior
Hometown: (Israeli) Petaq Tikvah (American) Jacksonville, FL
Relationship Status: Single
Her Campus (HC): How would you describe yourself?
Danielle Wirsansky (DW): I’m really stubborn, determined, and a workaholic. If I want something, I’m going to work endlessly towards achieving it. I’m also really artistic, so I express myself best creatively. Making art and telling stories is a big part of who I am.
(HC): A creative artist I see! Why did you pick your majors?
(DW): I attended art schools my whole life, and I’ve always been a theatre and creative writing major. Before college, I was also an Orchestra major (cello/bass), but even I think that three majors is pushing it. But I love all the different aspects of theatre and writing, and I’d like to be a playwright, which is the perfect combination of the two degrees.
(HC): What’s your 5 year plan?
(DW): I’m hoping in five years to be in the process of or finishing up graduate school. I want to get a Masters in Playwriting. History may only be my minor at present, but my era of study is WWII/ the Holocaust and I’m hoping to get a Masters in Genocide/Holocaust Studies too.
(HC): That’s really great Danielle! We wish you the best of luck. What’s one thing that you love about FSU?
(DW): There are so many opportunities that many students don’t consider, realize, or utilize while they are here! I’ve gotten so many opportunities through the Office of National Fellowships and the Center for Undergraduate Research and Academic Engagement, from being a part of the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP), working as a research assistant to a professor as an undergraduate student, being awarded grant money by the University to find my own research, and being selected/awarded many opportunities through fellowship applications.
(HC): That’s true. There are many great opportunities FSU offers to its students. By the way…your hair is so long! How do you manage it, and how long has it been that long?
(DW): My hair has been pretty long for most of my life. It started out short and curly though (imagine Shirley Temple) and instead of growing down, I grew it out and I had a major Jew fro going on. My mom couldn’t bear to cut my curls, so it just grew bigger and bigger until the curls became too heavy and they fell. I woke up one day and kind of had long hair.
I didn’t get my first hair cut until my younger brother, who is five years younger than me, got his first haircut. At least for me, it’s not that hard to take care of, but I’m sure I could do a lot better of a job. The hardest thing is drying it—It takes about 24 hours to dry. The longest I let it grow to is my knees because otherwise I start stepping on it when I bend over and things like that which is too much for me. I usually donate about a foot of it each time it hits my knees.
(HC): What are your hobbies?
(DW): I love writing and acting, especially directing plays I’ve written. I also write for Uloop for FSU. I usually write about entertainment and politics.(http://fsu.uloop.com/news/author.php/1901/Danielle-Wirsansky)
I’m an avid reader, too. I like to call myself a knitter, but frankly, I can only knit squares. I like making jewelry and even have a small jewelry business, called The Bead Bowl (www.thebeadbowl.com), where I specialize in making ear cuffs.
I like collecting shells (I can identify them too), anything Smurf related, and snow globes of all the places I go.
(HC): What is your favorite place to be on a cold night?
(DW): I actually really hate the cold, so my favorite place would be somewhere warm where I could curl up with a book, a cup of hot cider, and my rabbit Indiana Jones.
(HC): Ok, Last one! If you were stranded on an island and only could take 3 things you can’t live without, what would you take with you and why?
(DW): I’d take a weatherproof picture of my family because they are my favorite people in the world and mean so much to me. I wouldn’t want them stranded on an island with me, so a picture would have to do. I’d take pen and paper (for me they are one item as they are quite inseparable), so I could write and write and write. When you’ve got stories to tell and listen to, you’re never quite alone. And I’d take a really good hair brush, because after three days on this island my hair would start becoming one giant uni-dread, and I’d look like a bohemian Jimmy Neutron.