The Face of HOL
Meet your fellow HOLers through this amazing column where each installment will bring you a new exciting interview with someone from our community. Whether you know them well or not, we are sure there will be something here you did not already know.
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Lucia DinapoliBy Silvana Mandeville
HOLers, welcome to The Face of HOL; where I will introduce a HOL member to all HOLers. My name is Silvana Mandeville, nice to meet you. For our first issue of The Howler and my very first column, I had a great time talking to one of my friends from Slytherin, Lucia Dinapoli, a Third Year Slytherin, Prefect, and Student Teacher. Let's get to know more about her.
How did you find HOL? What attracted you to this place? - I actually found HOL after participating in another Hogwarts Roleplaying site. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending how you view it) that site had many technical issues that made it not much fun to use. I absolutely loved the community spirit, the lessons etc. and didn’t want to give up on meeting other Harry Potter fans and so I scoured the internet in 2019 for an alternative when I stumbled across the site. Thank Merlin I did! What is your favorite part of HOL? - My favourite part of HOL is absolutely meeting new people. It’s amazing to belong to a community, and interacting with people from all over the globe is such a wonderful pleasure, which I would not be able to indulge in anywhere else. This year you started teaching a class. How do you feel? - Teaching a class is a huge responsibility, but one I am really enjoying so far. I have to admit I was rather nervous to get started, it can be nerve wracking to start something new and unfamiliar, but I would be lying if I didn’t feel proud seeing the ‘Student Teacher’ status under my name. It has really given me some confidence when it comes to writing my own lessons in future. I am so honoured to have been handed the class after such wonderful and notable members of HOL (Arianna Stonewater, February Fortescue and Serenity Thomas) and I can’t wait to see how people enjoy it! Do you have role models at HOL? Who and why? - There are so many people who have made HOL the magical place that it is for me. Slytherin Head Emeritus Prof. Scarlet Leslie-Lewis was an integral part of my experience with the site, and I have loved watching her at work. Her time in the Dungeons really inspired me to take up more of a role within my house and HOL. Also, a special mention to Aurelia West. It is an absolute privilege to work alongside Aure, as well as call them my friend. Everything they do makes me want to be better! For almost three years being at HOL, what's your favorite class so far? - This is tough! I have enjoyed all of my classes. I think my favourites - I simply can’t just choose one - include COMC with Prof. Ryan Granger, Wandmaking with Prof. Tarma-Amelia Black, and Herbology with the late Polaris Black. I also loved Prof. Will Lestrange’s class on Parseltongue last year which was super challenging and very rewarding. When you aren't busy with classes, what things do you like to do at HOL? - When classes aren’t taking up most of my time, I really enjoy taking part in and hosting events as well as roleplaying! Roleplaying has always been such an exciting activity for me and I hope to perhaps inspire some revitalised love for our Roleplaying departments as the year continues. I also love writing, and I am a very big fan of herbs, so I write articles for my column 'Happy Herbalism' if and when I can. And of course, I love chatting to everyone around the Dungeons. Making connections is one of the best things about this place for me. What are your hobbies? - I enjoy reading and writing, creating and viewing any form of art, and going for little adventures. I love to see nature, and find walking and exploring super rewarding! I also really like to bake, and have a very particular interest in supernatural/spooky things and languages. What are five fun facts about yourself? Five facts about myself: - I am learning Romanian - I am Ashkenazi Jewish and Cypriot in heritage, with family history in Ireland, Poland and Italy. - I LOVE anything to do with zombies - I come from an enormous family (I have over 60 first cousins) - I love getting tattoos! Do you have any book/movie/drama/song recommendations for HOLers? - I am a gigantic film fan, it’s my dream to work in designing productions one day, so one thing that really makes a film for me is the setting. If you like weird, silly and wonderful, The Mighty Boosh is a wonderful British comedy show that, from watching it as a child, is probably responsible for my humour and love of design! My all-time favourite films are Pan’s Labyrinth, Coraline, Labyrinth (the one with David Bowie) and Trainspotting. They are all a little odd, have many elements of horror (which I love), and all have wonderful underlying hidden meanings, and beautifully told stories. Serpentine Souvenirs is a fun activity. Do you have any ups and downs when running that activity? - I think it can be quite nerve wracking to start running your own event. Sometimes I feel my ideas aren’t going to be well received but I know this is just nerves speaking. We’re always our own worst critics. I think when it comes to hosting any activities you have to not get into your head about it. All ideas are great ideas and your fellow staff members are always happy and willing to listen and help if you need it! For this event, it has all been running very smoothly and I have only experienced ups. I hope to see this continue and I hope everyone has lots of fun - that’s the main thing! That's all about Lucia. See you on the next issue! |