What's in a Name?

Lisa Hirsch-Solis

Lisa Hirsch-Solis- Argentinian-Jewish ancestry; Lisa Hirsch-Solis is an intelligent, ambitious, kindhearted, eccentric, and geeky girl of Hispanic-Jewish descent who Hannah Quigley and Mia Vasquez-Rivera bond with at Syracuse University. The daughter of Pilar Solis, a hard-working district manager, the three manage to form a genuine connection as college freshmen after they find a few similarities among themselves. She is a smart and tomboyish girl who is majoring in Computer Engineering and has proven to be clever, creative and a quick thinker, with an artistic inclination. She has a habit of collecting strange objects and keeping them in her room and she has no problems driving her new friends places in her van, which she calls the Lisamobile. Lisa's maternal great-grandparents were a German-Jewish couple who survived the Holocaust and World War II after emigrating from their native country to the US following the events of Kristallnacht in November 1938. She is seen as the type to doubt some of the literal values contained within a given dogma, leading her to cherry-pick ideas that she likes and reject others she doesn't. Despite being Jewish and claiming to have pride in her religion, she doesn't strictly follow any of the practices most people of her faith do and sometimes helps the Roman Catholic Church. She is generally a nice person with a brilliant mind who is even-keeled, fun-loving, and slightly odd, treating her friends empathetically and offering sound advice if needed. Lisa is very loyal, supportive, and helpful, and her intelligence and foresight is often useful when giving her friends the push they need to venture out into new things. 

She has a tendency to be timid around those she does not know well however, causing her to appear standoffish until she has fully warmed up to someone. Regardless, she is always up for a new adventure or challenge with her friends and is very determined to do the best she possibly can at whatever goals she sets her mind to. Individualistic and nonjudgmental, she is a passionate person who often speaks from the heart and is known for her strong, memorable personality. Lisa is an independent-minded young woman who is multitalented and has several interests, including formerly playing the trumpet in her high school's band and hacking into computer systems after being taught to do so by her uncle. Her roommate Lindsay, a self-described "kissaholic" lives with her and a boy named Logan in a co-ed suite and loves how kissing feels, viewing it as an easy way to express things without words. She met Hannah by chance once they were both seated beside one another in the auditorium of a freshman mathematics course. Her classmate was enrolled in a required distribution math class at the time and struggling with while completing her bachelor's in Graphic Design at the College of Visual and Performing Arts. Lisa quickly offered Hannah friendship and asked to study with her for the course's upcoming midterm exam, which she gladly accepted. She revealed herself to be rather introverted and reserved, often retreating into solitary activities, such as going on Discord. She owned an Ita bag and could frequently be found reading obscure manga in her room or looking through any of the most recent animes on Netflix. She formed somewhat of a connection with Hannah however once they discussed their mutual love for Owala water bottles and animated shows like Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Hannah proceeded to introduce her to Mia, her life-long best friend, who gradually began to warm up to her despite being slightly turned off initially by the mess in her suite. The girls later bonded and formed a budding friendship as they spent time ordering DoorDash and surviving 8:00 am lectures on zero sleep. She notes that Lisa can come off as abrasive because of her sarcasm, but she can also be rather endearing, as her sardonic wit is often clearheaded and refreshing to others. Her gruff, tomboyish exterior belies a sensitive side that she often keeps hidden, as she can be easily overwhelmed by her emotions. Lisa tends to look before she leaps for the most part and is not usually prone to making rash decisions without thinking about the consequences of her actions. Ironically, she is also an approval-seeker in some ways, and in her desire to receive praise and acknowledgment may try a little too hard to make a good impression, talking too much and listening too little in the process. Another important aspect of her personality is that she cares deeply for people, as her determination to protect them is what drives her to her goals. Despite her friendly nature, she will go supernova with righteous anger whenever she is exposed to any kind of suffering and injustice. Although she can be quiet at times, Lisa is generally seen as kind, caring, selfless and moral by those around her, as well as the "ultimate badass". She keeps in touch in her language of memes and inside jokes, yet provides intellectual fodder to chew on, theories about the world and philosophies about how one should "do life." She buys broken 1980s and 1990s Macintosh computers or mechanical keyboards off eBay, solders new components, programs custom firmware, and builds them back up.