Meet Ali Rice, this week’s Campus Celebrity! She’s a nature-loving, outspoken human rights activist, who you may have seen on stage at TEDx or As Told by Vaginas! Read on to learn more about this inspiring senior’s advice for underclassmen, why her dream dinner would be a meal with the Clintons, and the beauty of vulnerability.
Class Year: 2015
Hometown: Acton, MA
Major: International Relations (with a concentration in Human Rights)
Extracurricular activities: I am a Tour Guide in Admissions, a Trip Leader for the Outdoors Club, a member of As Told By Vaginas, and the Vice President of Slavery Ends Today (Conn’s anti-modern day slavery club). This semester I am also doing research with Professor Borer on the portrayal of torture in Hollywood after 9/11.
Personal motto: “You cannot live when you are untouchable. Life is vulnerability” -Edouard Boubat
If you could choose a world leader to have dinner with, who would you choose and where would you wine and dine?
Hillary Clinton at her house (dinner made by Bill). I would like to discuss a few things with our future president and figure if this is a fantasy dream world I might as well also give myself the opportunity to go to her house and take a look around.
How do you make Harris gourmet? I mix cinnamon into peanut butter and eat it with a banana…hardly gourmet but certainly the ‘weirdest’ I get in Harris.
Do you have a favorite class or professor taken at Conn?
I would have to say Professor Borer. Her and her classes have profoundly impacted the way I see the world and my role in it. I really could never thank her enough for the impact she has had on my life.
Do you have an embarrassing Camel moment?
While giving a tour my sophomore year I fell down the stairs between Branford and Plant. I was uninjured, physically. While I was falling, a student on my tour (who somehow remembered by name) yelled “AAALLLLLIIIIIIIIII!” As I lay on the ground I seriously contemplated getting up and saying “Okay sorry folks, so much for this tour, we’re gunna go back to Admissions now and call it a day.” But alas, I left my dignity on the ground between Plant and Branford and finished the tour.
What has been an especially meaningful or rewarding experience you’ve had during college (on campus/as a leader in an extracurricular activity/abroad/etc.)?
Last spring I took the semester off to travel. I did an Outward Bound trip in Joshua Tree, stayed with friends in California, and then worked on an olive farm in the south of France with my two wonderful best friends, Sara and Jenn. Then we travelled in Europe a bit, visiting friends who were studying abroad there. It was an experience I will never forget and it was so great to share it with people I love so much!
What was it like speaking at TEDx?It was really wonderful to share with so many people an idea that I’ve grown up learning about and that means so much to me. My talk was about the importance of practicing emotional vulnerability in order to live a life ‘in good company.’ To feel seen for something that I really care about felt incredibly special.
What is one thing you have not checked off your Conn bucket list yet?
Going to the Book Barn in Niantic!
As a graduating Senior, what advice would you give to underclassmen?
Only go to a Cro dance if you actually want to go to a Cro dance.
Favorite book: The History of Love, by Nicole Krauss. It is not a chronological history of love (don’t worry), but it is an incredibly beautiful story that I would recommend to anyone.
Favorite TV show: I gotta go with the four-way tie between “Arrested Development,” “Twin Peaks” (the first season), “Parks and Rec,” and “Freaks and Geeks.”
How do you feel about being Campus Celebrity? Flattered ☺
Spirit animal: My spirit animal is a human. I like non-human animals from a distance (and am a proponent of animal rights) but I don’t really like to interact with them up close.
Party anthem/music that inspires you: I pretty much solely listen to music that other people think is quite sad, but I just think is beautiful! I literally run on the treadmill to the likes of Bon Iver, the Head and the Heart, the Cinematic Orchestra, and Gregory Alan Isakov.
Go-to dance move: Is letting your entire body shake with abandon a dance move?