Elisabeth Lucile Lee is a nineteen year old Mount Holyoke sophomore from Edina, Minnesota. On Elisabeth’s walls hang a print of “Sunset in Venice” by Claude Monet, a corkboard map, and a Maya Angelou quote, “If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be,” which reflect her love of art history, french culture, travel, sincerity, and empowerment. The number of historical reference books scattered on her duvet make it easy to guess that she’s a history major. Yet, this is by no means all there is to Elisabeth, so I met with her this week to learn more about her.
If you were at the movie theaters right now: who would be with you, what movie would you be watching, and what would you buy from the concession stand?
It’s probably an action flick, and maybe comedy. I’d probably go with just one friend. I usually just like going with one. I used to always get twizzlers, but I’d probably get popcorn. And I’ll probably have my water bottle and knitting with me. I started doing that this summer, knitting during movies, because it’s two hours on your hands. I bring my knitting to talks. I bring my knitting to class. And it’s my aunt’s birthday this weekend, and I want to finish a scarf for her, so I have been knitting everywhere.
If you had a patronus, what would it be?
An elephant. I’ve always really liked elephants. I didn’t know why, until one of my friends at camp said I was very strong, but also very gentle and wise, like an elephant. And I was like – that’s why I like elephants! Now I know why!
What’s your food of choice and why?
Potatoes or onions, often in tandem. I think potatoes are amazing and I love cooking with them. You can make them so many different ways. Same thing with onions, you can add onions to almost anything and it makes it better. I cooked a bunch this summer and you can not go wrong with potatoes and onions.
What is your favorite recent read?
Oh, let me just go look at my bookshelf. Refresh my memory… I would say probably without a doubt Americanah. ‘Cause I read it since I was an orientation leader and just loved it. It just opened my eyes to a whole different experience of race in America, that I never considered, and never really heard about, and it was so interesting. I loved it.
If you were a Disney song, which one would you be?
I’ve never actually thought about it… If I have to go dramatically philosophical on it, I would be, “I’ve Got a Dream,” from Tangled. Basically, because now that I think deeply about the song, it’s a reminder that no matter what, everybody wants something, and everybody has a dream of their own. Everybody had a passion. Which is a really good thing to remember, that we’re not all just humans going about our days being crabby to each other, that we all do have things that we really enjoy and people we love.
If you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would it be?
I’d go to Sweden to visit my boyfriend.
Ok, my final question is, what do you think is the coolest thing about you?
Oh goodness. I guess it would be that I really, really love travelling and when I was growing up with my family I got the opportunity to travel a bunch, which is a really important part of my identity, because I got exposed to a lot of different cultures, and I got to see really cool places. And also, I spent a lot of time in the car with my family which was difficult at times, but also made us really close. So, I just think that’s something really important, something that I know I want to be able to have throughout my life.
On that note, I hope that you enjoyed getting to know Elisabeth as much as I did.