JUST FOR
Teens
L
iliana Geier is the twirling star of our first For Teens feature. At only seventeen years old she holds an incredibly impressive curricula vitae, and it appears her ambition is only growing from here. Liliana is a senior at Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts, where she’s in her second year after transferring from Mandeville High School. Her number one passion in life is twirling. Some might think of it as a lost art, but not to Liliana. It’s an art she has devoted a good portion of her life to and has been recognized for since she was young. In her freshmen year, she started a twirling program that performed at her previous school’s half-time shows. The performances became so popular, however, that the principal and band director forbade her from continuing to perform, as they felt it was ‘casting a shadow’ on the other performances. This was the impetus for Liliana to transfer schools so that she could practice and perform without limitations. Now that she is a senior she is parlaying twirling into full-ride scholarship offers from the University of Alabama, Mississippi State, and many other universities. When I spoke with Liliana’s mother, Melanie, she informed me Liliana had just finished an interview with Dartmouth and was considering all of her options. Liliana achieved an astonishing 34 on the ACT, which only adds to her appeal to any college of interest. Another wonderful extracurricular she started is a social media campaign to promote anti-bullying and suicide prevention called Live with a Passion for Compassion. Liliana was initially met with adversity in school, due to her drive and focus on interests. So, she took her negative experience and transformed it into a positive one. She was also able to use her pageantry platform to promote this mental health movement and plans on writing a book about the work she’s done soon. Liliana rode in Endymion on the First Maids float this Mardi Gras, which she was very excited about. She also competed in the Miss Louisiana pageant as Miss Mandeville. Needless to say, Liliana is a magnificently gifted young woman, and there is no doubt that life has some great things in store for her. We’re excited to find out!
22 | The Sanctuary Living
March - April 2022
