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Name: Alena
Three words to describe yourself: always-contemplating, fun-loving, friendly
Alena is from Peachtree City, Georga and has lived there since she was four years old. Originally, she was born in Virginia, but moved to Louisiana before living in Georgia. Her grandparents were born in Italy, so all of their cousins still live there and in Italy, "your cousins are basically your brothers and sisters." Both families moved in the '30s because "they saw the outcome of Mussolini, and came to America." At UGA, Alena is majoring in International Affairs and is thinking about adding another major, possibly religion. Ultimately, she wants to work for an international non-profit organization and says "It would be cool to work with other countries." Alena wants to travel to a lot of different places, but says she wants to do more "backpack travel" as opposed to "tourist travel." This summer, she is going to live in Peru for ten weeks through AISEC and here is her blog about her trip: http://overthehillsnow.blogspot.com/. She has traveled out of the country; to Italy to see family and to Colombia for a wedding. Alena also wants to play an instrument, maybe the mandolin. She likes to read and listen to music with Alice in Wonderland being her favorite book because "it's a statement on how people take drugs to make everything better." She adds, "If Lewis Carroll was here today, he'd be freaked out." In her English class this semester, Alena read Flight and said that she really liked it and she describes herself as a Harry Potter nerd. Since the age of five, Alena has been dancing but coming to college, she decided to take a break for a while, but next semester, she is taking a dance class. I asked Alena what her favorite style of dance is and she said, "It depends on the day, but I like modern-contemporary, but it's a very broad field . . . I also like tap and jazz." Next year, Alena is going to be an "Impact" site leader (alternative spring break) for the "Homelessness and Poverty" trip to Charlotte, North Carolina. For personal philosophies, Alena says, "I believe that love is an action . . . it's a very broad category . . . but if we live a life of love . . . the world will be a better place." She also likes this quote by Martin Luther King: "Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: Only love can do that."