In elementary school, we all went outside to the playground during lunch, and whether you liked it or not, that’s where you spent that time. High school is a new world of possibilities. Students choose how they are going to spend their 33 fleeting minutes meant for munching.

The lack of structure can be freeing for some but stressful for others. Some students have cars they use to escape downtown Portland, but most must search for their niche corner, on or near the school campus.

Senior Audrey Villalobos and Junior Lilly and Maya Fiallos run Lincoln’s Disney Club on Wednesdays during lunch in room 107. They’ve been watching a film every month since midway through last school year. But Disney club is more than just watching Disney movies.

“After we watch a movie, we spend a day playing a game related to Disney like Pictionary, [or] charades” says Lilly.

They just finished The Sword in the Stone. While Lilly has the most say in what movies the club watches, she says, “I also wanted to show movies that people like. At the beginning of the year they vote. I’m a really big Disney nerd, so I categorized the movies by the chronological years they came out because I wanted to show movies from all of Disney not just the Renaissance era which is like: Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, you know that stuff that everyone knows” explained Lilly. The votes came in and the decision was made: Mulan. “After that I think I did Emperor’s New Groove. I dressed as Kuzco for Comic Con.”

I asked her “Human Kuzco or llama?”

Before I could finish, she exclaimed “Human. I was not a furry. I did not go that direction.”

Last year, Lilly and now-alum Nawaal Imam (‘16) ran the club together. Since Imam left, Lilly ran the Club Fair booth by herself this year.

“I got like 100 [emails]. It was crazy! I also had some people really annoying come up to me just like ‘Disney is a sexist community, destroying feminism,’” she says.

Lilly has a watertight argument against anyone who views the movies as sexist. She feels that people aren’t seeing the forest through the trees when it comes to the wide scope of subject matter and stories told in Disney’s complete collection.

“Tell me why you think it’s sexist? Because the woman gets married to the prince? That’s like three Disney movies: Cinderella, Snow White, and Ariel.”

In any case, she says, “I mostly don’t play Snow White and stuff like that because people are really, judgy.”

She continues “I’m a girl. I’m an hispanic lesbian girl, so I have a lot of minority things going against me.” Yet she can still enjoy a movie just for its beauty sometimes.  

Sophomore Rosie Crawford said, “My friends go and I think it’s fun. I come [almost] every Wednesday, and if I’m not here I’m at FBLA.”

Beyond Disney club, Lilly is the co-president of three other clubs. “Monday’s a free day, Tuesday vice-president of New Student Union… Thursday vice-president for Latino Student Union, and then Friday, president for Game of Thrones club.”

Thus is the life of a passionate club leader.

How do you lunch?