CNN
Mia Lillis is a junior originally Brownsville, Texas who transferred to Notre Dame from Austin, Texas, with a double-major in Philosophy and Political Science and a minor in Business Economics.
Besides her academic pursuits, Mia is actively involved with “Students for Environmental Action, is a member of "VOICE," which is the Advisory Board for The Center for Social Concerns, as well as being active in her dorm as the Multicultural Commissioner.
In her free time, Mia enjoys reading, playing her guitar, rock climbing and discovering new music.
Mia's dream occupation will take her to all corners of the earth, where she will experience many rich and interesting cultures. She dreams of the day when all people, irrespective of race, culture, religion or sexual orientation, will know they are unconditionally welcomed under the Dome.
She believes her work as a member of the Core Council will help bring this dream to reality.
Lillis said she was prepared to be open about her sexual orientation before coming to Notre Dame, but waited a month into her freshman year to come out because of her experience with freshman orientation. She said after telling her roommates, word "gradually got out" to the rest of her dorm.
"[My roommates] were perfectly awesome with it," she said. "I didn't encounter any problems with anyone in the dorm." However, Lillis did encounter some trials in coming out that she said are unique to the campus environment found at Notre Dame.
"You take on such a big responsibility when you come out here. Not that necessarily you are going to receive a lot of discrimination, but you are taking on the role of educating people," she said. "A lot of people here have not met gay people before coming to Notre Dame. That gets really tiring after a while, to explain over and over again."
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