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Laugh Like You Mean It: McKinley Starks

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Mercer chapter.

 

 Major/minor- Vocal Performance with a focus in piano collaborative. They don’t have a degree in undergraduate piano collaborative, so I’m just getting a focus/specialization 

Age: 19, but 20 in a month and a half!

Year: Sophomore by year, freshman by credits I think… 

Hometown: Warner Robins, GA. Whooo! GO BEARS!! (Houston County High AND Mercer Bears!)
8) 

Favorite book– Harry Potter. All of them. You can’t isolate just one of them. J.k. Rowling is a genius. Each book relies on the others in the series, and there are no holes in her plot and explanations, or if there are, they are infinitesimal. But the books are just genius. 

Best part about Mercer: The loving atmosphere. Everyone I meet are so warm and welcoming. I love it. It’s also bigger than the school that I transferred from. BY A LOT!

What are you involved in? I am involved with Mercer Singers, the Opera, and Common Ground (occasionally when time permitting.)

If you could be in one musical and be any character, what musical and character would you be and why: Definitely Les Miserables which is coming out on film in December!!! But I would love to be Jean Valjean. I played him in high school my junior year, but I would love to do a professional production of it. The show is just so freaking beautiful! But specifically, Valjean’s character struggles with accepting his past and letting it influence, but not rule his future. He also struggles with finding redemption for his past sins, and personally those are two things that I have faced already. 

Next movie you’re planning to see: PITCH PERFECT. I LOVE REBEL WILSON! 

What do you do with your time outside of school: Uh…practice, practice, maybe some hanging with friends, and trolling the internet for funny things.

Favorite characteristic about yourself: I love my laugh. It’s super loud. It’s kind of annoying sometimes, but I love it! 

Best childhood movie and why that movie: Beauty and the Beast. I have no idea really.. I love Belle. I still do this day, but I would watch it all day. Literally. I would finish it. Rewind it and then go again. 

Top four things to do before you die?

1. Be on Broadway

2. Meet Kristin Chenoweth

3. Live in a penthouse overlooking Central Park

4. Love

Life motto– You do you. It’s kinda simple, but it explains me perfectly. I’m all about living for yourself and doing what you want (as long as it isn’t at the expense of someone else’s well being.) 

What is one thing you want to share with Mercer: About Harry Potter and how much I love it. All the way up until my eleventh birthday, I checked the mail religiously for my letter to Hogwarts. Well, my 11th birthday rolls around, and I know that today is the day that I receive my true calling of being a wizard. The mail came, and I walked slowly to the mailbox. I opened and grabbed the mail. I looked through it… and nothing. Not a single thing addressed to me. I checked it over and over again making sure that I hadn’t been mistaken. When I had accepted reality, I fell down in the middle of the street and wept. I was unashamed. I was too forlorn to care. But yeah…That’s my Harry Potter story. I still think that to this day, I missed my letter because I was checking the mailboxes and not the local Owlery.

Olivia is a Business Major at Mercer University, pursuing a degree in Management and a minor in Marketing. With love for the arts she aspire to someday open her own bakery and non-profit organization for the arts. With a passion for all thing in life she hopes to spread the joy of community and creativity.