Meet Li Anne Harris. She is a fourth year public relations major from Griffin, Georgia with a heart for people and desire to serve. Read on to learn about her passion for adventure and life of endless possibilities.
KC: You were adopted as an infant from China. How did your upbringing help shape the woman you are today?
LH: My upbringing shaped me tremendously for the better. I was born in China, but raised in Griffin, Georgia, because I was adopted when I was 11 months old. I have never felt embarrassment for being adopted, because my parents celebrated it. For example, each year we celebrate my “Gotcha Day”, which is the day my parents “got me”–haha get it?! We always order Chinese food, watch home videos and just spend the day together. It’s nothing major, but it is a small, intentional way to celebrate my adoption with the entire family. This part of my story has instilled in me an impartial spirit to never assume someone else’s story before they tell it and give each person the right to tell their own story, because it might not always be what one may think.
KC: Next May, you will be walking under the Arch as an official UGA graduate. What are your post graduation plans?
LH: I have a few things on my radar–graduate school, corporate marketing, going abroad for a year or two, etc. Who knows what I’ll end up doing! We will see!
KC: What organizations are you involved in on campus?
LH: Alpha Chi Omega, Young Life, New Student Orientation, Grady Ambassadors and Public Relations Society of America
KC: How did you become a 2017 UGA Orientation Leader and would you recommend this opportunity to other students?
LH: Being an Orientation Leader was not on my radar until I applied on the very last day within the last hour of the application being opened. For me, it felt like a position far out of my reach and one that only campus studs ever applied for and got. Yet, I applied thanks to some honest friends who pushed me to bet on myself. I am so thankful they did, because I discovered things in me that I didn’t know I was capable of without Orientation. I would definitely recommend this role to anyone who has a huge heart for welcoming new students into UGA.
KC: You studied abroad in Bali, Indonesia. What was your greatest takeaway from this experience?
LH: Oh wow, too many! I think my biggest takeaway was the fierce momentum I now have to think bigger and broader with the trajectory I want for my life. Traveling the world is great for realizing the scope to which this world is available to us to work, to study and to make better. I learned that it is beyond important to become a student of this world and the people who inhabit it. I am so thankful for the opportunity to study abroad, as I am still and will always learn things from that incredible summer.
KC: Li Anne, you’re a travel enthusiast, where is your dream destination?
LH: Oh my goodness, EVERYWHERE! Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Morocco, Egypt, Iceland, Philippines, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Amsterdam, etc. Literally anywhere and everywhere, with anyone and everyone!
KC: What has been the biggest “L” you’ve taken during your time at UGA?
LH: Taking so long comparing myself to others. It might sound cliché, but it’s honest–comparison is the thief of all joy. I spent a long time comparing my own friendships, qualifications, network, personality, etc. with my peers that it stunted my own personal growth. I learned that there is a difference between competition and challenge. I want to be in the sweet spot of friends who challenge me rather than friends I constantly compare myself to. There is something uniquely organic about Athens that fosters this deep spirit of camaraderie over competition which I value more and more. I mean just look at the tradition of the Chapel Bell–ringing it for small and large victories for the entire campus to hear and celebrate together.
KC: One of your life mottos is, “Sleep is for the weak.” Do you have any advice on how college students can excel in their academics while enjoying their social and extracurricular activities?
LH: I am a firm believer that life is not a spectator’s sport and neither is college; you have to participate in order to get the full richness out of this university and this city. Thus, I am a huge proponent that sleep is for the weak and prevents you from participating. I know no one likes to hear it, but I think the balance is different for everyone.
I use Google calendar to keep me in check and do not commit to too many things. I leave room in my schedule for flexibility. Beyond anything, this semester I wanted to be available. For me to be able to do this, meant that I had to put in the work as an underclassman for my senior year schedule to be less rigorous academically. It also meant not adding self-pressure to be involved in every single thing, but choosing what really mattered to me.
KC: What do you hope the future holds for you personally and professionally?
LH: Personally, I hope to pursue a life with a bold, sincere and contagious fervor for the people, the stories, and the moments that make them. I commit to relentlessly love the people of the world, for they deserve to know how deeply worthy they are in the eyes of mankind.
Professionally, I want to work abroad for a year or two in marketing as the market is so global where we are able to do so, while still easily staying connected to the network in the US. In whatever career and season I am in, I want to be rooted in honest work and earn a good night’s sleep. I want to be able to be a generous tipper always and pay it forward with my time and energy when I can.
KC: What do you want to leave as a legacy at UGA?
LH: I want to leave a legacy that empowers others to go beyond their initial potential so greatly that they forget about anything I have ever done or accomplished. I want to leave such a legacy that paves a path for individuals to set greater goals and to accomplish greater achievements and to love more people and to have richer conversations that I am no longer remembered. I want to create a cycle of generations to achieve and create legacies far greater than the one I could have ever dreamt to leave behind.
Photos courtesy of Li Anne Harris