What is your name and pronouns?

Selene Lawrence. I use she/her and they/them pronouns.

What is your year and major?

Technically, I’m a sophomore since I lost some credits when I transferred here. I’m a Liberal Studies student, which means I’m designing my own major. The working title is “Traditional, Folkloric, and Popular Cultural Studies for Mass Media Communications.” I’m also pursuing a minor in writing!

What is your PRISM position?

I’m Prism’s Student Correspondent and assistant to the editors. 

What sorts of things do you do in that role?

A lot more than what people might think! I do a lot of email correspondences, and am in charge of all of the student-submitted content you see on the website. I’ve done a lot of work with web building and have helped organize a lot of administrative strategies with things like our rebranding and events. I have also written some articles, interviews, and other writing for Prism, such as the mission statement in this year’s print edition. 

What led you to that field?

I kind of created this role for myself. I showed up to a Prism meeting in the fall with a long proposal of what I thought I could contribute to, and was very lucky that our editors were willing to run with it. I love writing, I love art, and I’m really good at organizing stuff; I knew I had to be a part of this. 

What goals do you have for your career?

I really want to go into publishing or work in a creative or cultural institution. Any position that uplifts other artists would be a dream come true. I’m also working on my creative career as well. I would love to publish a novel or short story collection sometime in the next few years.  

What is your favorite thing about working with PRISM?

This may be cheesy—but I love working with Sailor and Jay. We’ve become really good friends during the past year, and I find it really special to be on a team with people who I know have my back no matter what. The work I do here is so important to me. It’s a real honor to be trusted with the artwork of so many people. Another favorite part of the job was seeing how excited everyone was after sending out acceptance emails. 

What are some ways being at OSU / an OSU student influences your creativity?

Oh boy. Well, I’m an Ecampus student, which puts a lot of limitations on what I can do at OSU outside of academics. Somehow, this seems to have encouraged me more than not. At Oregon State I’ve definitely had to get more creative in finding jobs, internships, and extracurriculars to pursue. A lot of my creativity has gone towards  figuring out how to make those opportunities happen if they don’t already exist, or how to convince people to give me a chance even though I’m not there in person. The ‘no’s have been pretty overwhelming, but I’ve gotten a few ‘yes’s. That’s how I found myself with Prism this year!

What’s the last book you read? Or if you’re more of a TV person, the last movie you watched?

I just finished Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner; I’m a big fan of her music. My letterboxd says that the last movie I watched was Mr. Vampire 3, but more recently I’ve been rewatching a lot of Twin Peaks. 

What’s one of your favorite ways to de-stress during midterms or finals?

I think movement and physical activity help a lot. I like to take walks in the cemetery across from my house, and a lot of the time I put on my favorite music and dance it out at my desk while doing homework. 

And now the fun questions! What’s something on your bucket list?

I don’t have very many—I tend to go where life takes me and try to get the best out of it. My best friend of nearly a decade lives in Australia, I would really like to go visit her there, especially since she’s traveled to visit me twice now. 

Where’s your favorite place on Earth?

This might seem corny or cringe but I don’t care! My favorite place is wherever my partner is .

If you won the lottery tomorrow, what would you do with the money?

Definitely hire an accountant. I would have to see if the money would cover my tuition before I could do anything with it! I would invest and save enough to make sure that basic needs are covered, and then I would donate the rest of it. 

If you were a music album, which would you be?

This is the hardest question ever. It’s probably going to have to be Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run. It’s a very intense album, very full of life. It’s full of a lot of conflicting emotions that I think are very suited for people in their early to mid 20s like myself. That album is full of utter longing. There’s this clash between standing your ground and toughing it out and restlessness—finding everything around you stale and dull and needing to get away from it, needing your life to begin. That’s kind of where I’m at right now. 

How long do you think you’d survive in the zombie apocalypse, and why?

I would not want to survive through that at all, unless the whole thing was over within a few days. Maybe it’s a dark answer. I think I could survive a bit from a tactical standpoint, but absolutely would not want to. I suppose it also depends on what kind of zombies we’re talking about. 

And lastly, are there any upcoming PRISM projects you’re involved with that you’d like to plug/promote here?

Yes!!! I just posted an art-and-interview series to the website that I’ve been working on for such a long time. It’s called Celebrating Identity. I’ve also worked really hard on updating the website for our rebrand, there are lots of new colors and patterns on there. It looks the best on desktop. Check it out! 

Thank you so much!