Name: Lisa Combs
Major: Political Science and English
Minor: Leadership Studies
Rank: Senior
Hometown: Cleveland, Ohio
Ohio State activities: Kappa Alpha Theta, Student Leadership Advocates, Bucket and Dipper Junior Class Honorary, Orientation Leader, Resident Advisor
This week, Her Campus OSU had the pleasure of speaking to Lisa Combs, a senior at OSU this year. Last weekend Lisa was crowned 2015 Ohio State homecoming queen! Lisa is very involved and has touched many lives in her past 3 years at OSU through programs such as Student Leadership Advocates and becoming a Resident Advisor and Orientation Leader. Read on to discover how Taylor Swift, Carmen Ohio and Ohio State brought Lisa even more than a crown.
HC: What is your favorite quote?
LC: “And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love, but the greatest of these is love” 1 Corinthians 13:13
HC: How has Ohio State impacted your life?
LC: Ohio State has impacted my life by helping me become the person that I am. It has given me the values that guide my life and a family that I know I will carry with me through every future endeavor. Ohio State has given me mentors, family and friends that have helped me find who I am. For that I am forever grateful.
HC: What is your favorite location on campus and why?
LC: My favorite location on campus is most definitely the long walk and that’s because it’s home to one of my favorite campus traditions. This is the place on campus where love is illuminated the most. Every time I see two people walk down the long walk to celebrate their love, I actually tear up at how beautiful this idea of eternal love really is. This is what makes Ohio State so amazing because every inch of our campus has love, but the long walk celebrates this idea of being a “Buckeye for Life” and that this love is not just for four years, but for life.
HC: Who do you look up to most and why?
LC: There are so many people that I look up to for so many reasons, but I thought I would choose a person that everyone reading this knows and that is Taylor Swift. She has been there for me through every experience since the first time my heart was broken when I was 13. She taught me to be fearless and live in spite of the things that scare me to death. She taught me to speak now because we regret the words we don’t say more than the words that we do. She taught me to experience every single emotion because they are all important and that love is red. She taught me to be a 1989 girl and look in the mirror and love myself every day. I would not have gotten through the things that I did without her words. She taught me to believe in love when life gave me every reason not to.
HC: What advice would you give to incoming freshmen?
LC: I would tell incoming freshman to fall in love with the life they are living at Ohio State because it really goes by way faster than we think. I think as freshman we come in to this scary place being nervous and afraid and just living a life that is guided by fear. We tear ourselves down because that’s all we really know. I would tell freshman to look in the mirror and tell themselves “I am enough” and this is because we are all special and we all have something to offer the world even in those moments where we think that we don’t.
HC: What is your favorite memory as a Buckeye?
LC: My favorite memory as Buckeye was the last time I sang Carmen Ohio with the Orientation Leader Staff during my first summer. This was a moment of true family and a moment where I knew that these people would be standing next to me not just then at the end of an era, but for the rest of my life. That summer was a transformative one for me where I was lucky enough to interact with over 300 new first year students and a dynamic staff of 23 other people who were on my side and allowed me to be who I am and find who I am even if that person was emotional and crazy and not really understood. The thing was that they understood me. That moment when we sung Carmen for the last time as a staff, I knew. I knew they would be a part of my life forever.