Meet Our Fall 2015 Campus Culture Section Opener: Molly Basilio

There’s no question about it; Molly Basilio loves Penn State.

As a sophomore, Basilio is training to become an EMT while also being in The Thespian Society, The Lion Troop, a THON Rules and Regulations committee and the Schreyer Honors College where she is majoring in Biomedical Engineering. It’s safe to say she’s taking advantage of all Penn State has to offer.

Through The Lion Troop, a new organization this year, Basilio works directly with the Nittany Lion. The Lion Troop’s goal is to get the Nittany Lion to the UCA Mascot Nationals, which is a competition involving ten of the best mascots in the country.

“My job is to gather footage and pictures, and help come up with skit ideas to get the best content that we can for the Lion to hopefully make the best video. Then if we make the cut, my job will be to help construct all of the props and special effects, which my theatre background helps a lot with,” says Basilio.

The Lion Troop isn’t just preparing the Lion for nationals; they are also working on advertising and promoting the Lion.

“We’ve really been given an incredible opportunity to shape how people see the Lion, who is a symbol of our university and one of the most loved figures in Penn State history, so my job has grown from simply gathering footage to helping to create how people view our mascot,” says Basilio.

Basilio had to get involved at Penn State. She loves working on projects “at all times.”

“I love being busy and working on something bigger than myself, and I’ve always had a difficult time saying no to an opportunity. I do a lot of things because I genuinely love to do them and I can’t pick just one thing.”

Throughout her busy schedule, Basilio manages to stay “peachy.” In fact, if she had to describe herself as a Berkey Creamery flavor, she would choose Peachy Paterno.

“I try to stay positive and ‘peachy’ has always been my substitute for the word ‘good’, so I like to think that I stay peachy whenever I can,” says Basilio.

Basilio has found her home here at Penn State. She loves the people and how happy and full of Penn State pride everyone is here, “even in the dead of winter.”

“There’s a reason we have the best student section in the country and why people from other schools visit all the time,” says Basilio. “We have the best community out there, and I found my best friends here.”