Hair Style: Shoulder length and normally loose, though she pulls it back when working soccer games.
Body Type: Average height, slightly muscled but focuses more on cardio
Favorite color: Blue
Typical Outfit: Jeans, sneakers, T-shirt, sunglasses which she puts on top of her head when she’s inside.
In a nutshell: Dedicated and perceptive, loyal to causes and people, passionate, driven by a need to feel included but indifferent as to whether she gets noticed for her contributions.
What are you mostly likely to plant in a garden? Oh. Well, I’m not particularly good with plants. It’s not that I don’t like detail-work, I just have a hard time waiting weeks to know if I’m doing something properly. I’d only plant something if it grew really fast. Pumpkins, maybe.
What is your favorite discussion topic? What other people do for their jobs, assuming they really like their occupation. Even if it’s something I couldn’t see myself ever enjoying, it’s fun to hear about it by someone who thinks it’s the best thing ever.
What kind of first impression do you normally make? According to my friends, I was a little intimidating before they got to know me. That’s definitely not how I see myself, though. I’m just normally focusing on something.
When you’re upset, what helps? Busy work. Anything that lets me move around and focus on things that aren’t related to the problem. Cleaning, in particular. It’s amazing how much stress you can get out of your system by scrubbing things.
What is the number one thing on your bucket list? I want to witness something important. I don’t even care what. A great speech, or a sports game, or a miracle… just something that people are going to talk about for years and years and I’d be able to say, “Yeah, I was there. I saw that happen.”
What animal would you be? I’ve been told when something grabs my attention, I look like a merecat. Can’t say I’m thrilled about the comparison, but there you go.
What would your college major be? Biochemistry.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? I wish I were a better communicator. I’m not terrible or anything, but sometimes I’ll be talking to someone and I’ll know exactly what I want to tell them, but I just can’t find the words to make it sound right.
Name a skill you’ve always wanted to learn. Playing an instrument. I’m sure I could if I had the time for it, but there are only so many hours in the day. I’d rather pick just a few things and do them really well than try to do everything and be mediocre. Still, making music would be a fun talent.
How likely are you to change your mind? Not particularly. I tend to put a lot of thought and research into my decisions, so something dramatic would have to happen to make me back out of something once I commit to it.
What is your biggest secret? I’m not actually sure what I want to do with my life. Everyone sees me and says, “Wow, she’s really got it together,” but honestly, I don’t. I study and I get good grades and I aim to excel, but I don’t have any clear idea of what direction I want to go or what my ultimate goals are. That’s partly why I take the smaller goals so seriously.
What is your deepest fear? Messing up when someone is really counting on me. I’m reliable and people trust me, and I want to be worthy of that.
Describe yourself in one word: Attentive
Dialogue:
“Biochemistry, huh?” Hannah jumped immediately to the shortest answer on the survey. “Not what I was expecting.”
Lisa smiled thinly, like Hannah’s reaction was exactly what she had been expecting when she came into the interview. “You can’t exactly major in helping at soccer games,” she said. “Besides, you’re allowed to take something seriously without making your entire life rotate around it.”
“And what does your life rotate around?” Hannah asked.
Lisa sighed. “Read the biggest secret answer.” She gestured to the papers Hannah was holding. “I honestly don’t know.”
“Lots of people don’t know, Sweetie,” she said. “It’s okay. You’ll figure it out.”
Lisa made a face like she often got this advice, and it had yet to prove useful.
“So, how did you get started helping out with soccer?”
Some of the stiffness dropped from Lisa’s shoulders as they moved back to more accessible topics. “It’s a club I’m in. We help at sporting events.”
“Just soccer, or do you have others?”
“Swimming, also,” she said. “I stand at the end of the lane and watch for the hands to touch the wall, then I hit the button to record their time.” She made a demonstrative clicking motion with her thumb.
“Do you like that more or less than soccer?”
Clever camera angle? Or was I just too lazy to clean the clutter off my desk? hmmm…
“I guess soccer is more interesting,” she said. “That is, more unpredictable for me, and I like being in situations where I need to think quickly. With swimming, you don’t have to make any choices. You just have to press the button at the right moment.”
Lisa paused, hearing her words, and then hastily corrected herself, “I’m not saying that keeping time in a swim meet is less important, though. It’s so important. I mean, there aren’t those special pads on the wall. My button is the official time for my lane, and if I get it wrong it’s just wrong and that’s unacceptable. I take that job just as seriously.”
