Annie Lyons
co-Editor in Chief
When she’s not obnoxiously tweeting or hunting down the nearest source of iced coffee, Annie Lyons is a third-year Plan II and Journalism major. She dreamt up the idea for Afterglow partly because she wanted to make sure no one slept on Kacey Musgraves. Annie is first and foremost a Harry Styles fan who feels no shame over never outgrowing her boyband phase. She spends most of her time trying to get her resistant friends into Charli XCX, taking different personality tests (she’s a Gemini/ENTP), or getting mushy at that part during a concert when an artist turns the mic solely to the crowd.
Selome hailu
co-editor in chief
Selome Hailu is a second-year English and African & African Diaspora Studies major. She’s a Leo/ENFJ and her love language is “words of affirmation.” She’s very ready to discuss any of these with you at length. Selome is an Austinite by birth, an Ethiopian by heritage, and a devourer of black art forms at her core. Her relationship with music is best known for her tendency to play A Seat at the Table by Solange on repeat for twenty-four hours at a time. But don’t think you’ve got her tastes completely predicted just yet—her favorite band is Vampire Weekend and her favorite movie is Holes (yes, with Shia LeBeouf). So, to put it briefly, if you’ve got a big heart and a story to tell, she’s listening.
Delaney Davis
managing editor
Delaney Davis is a second-year Government and Spanish double-major from Grapevine, TX. Her favorite music genres are classic rock and indie pop, and her favorite musician of all time is Lady Gaga. She hopes to attend law school one day with hopes of becoming The Carters’ attorney. Her typical Saturday night is spent crying over concert tickets she can’t afford.
elizabeth braaten
managing editor
Elizabeth Braaten is an international relations and global studies senior from Conroe, Texas. She plays the drums at an amateur level, but has high hopes of making it big one day in a rock band during an American Beauty-esque mid-life crisis. She enjoys the outdoors, reading, and pretending that she thinks American Beauty is deep.
Dallas Killeen
content editor
Dallas Killeen is a Mac DeMarco impersonator and former child from Dallas, Texas. When not training himself in the art of the blade, he studies Plan II, English, and Business Honors. He also enjoys (you guessed it!) listening to and critically analyzing music. His favorite musical themes include coming-of-age stories and anything queer, and his “Recently Played” on Spotify features Charli XCX, ROSALÍA, Ryan Beatty, Teyana Taylor, and The Aces. If you see him studying at Bennu or screaming the lyrics to “Kill V. Maim” at Barbarella, feel free to strike up a conversation. He would love to chat about where to find the tastiest milkshakes in Austin or why JOBA is the best member of BROCKHAMPTON.
Dylan Keesee
content editor
Dylan is a third-year international nutrition major who mostly listens to rap and R&B. If he was an animal, he would be Air Bud. His skills are cooking and never knowing whether to dap someone up or shake their hand. If you wish to talk to Dylan, his number is 678-999-8212.
Lauren Cook
content editor
Lauren Cook is a second-year Supply Chain Management and recently declared Sustainability Studies major (she hopes that by adding this major she will be able to tone down the McCombs snakey-ness). When she’s not yelling about the environment or latest fashion news or the French language, Lauren enjoys listening to an unhealthy amount of music. Though being born a bit of an Indie Rokker, Lauren enjoys a large variety of musical genres and truly cannot decide which one she likes the best, so don’t ask her. If you’re ever looking for Lauren, there’s a good chance she’s in line at the Chick-Fil-A in the SAC.
Katherine Gaard
content editor
Katherine Gaard is a fourth-year Plan II and Art History major. Her music interests, as do anyone’s, vary based on her mood. If she’s feeling emo, she loves a good dream pop song, and if she’s feeling homesick, she’ll listen to some latinx pop. Some of her top artists (in no order) include Natalia Lafourcade, Paul Simon, Carlos Vives, Hot Chip, Kali Uchis, Belle & Sebastian, and Devendra Banhart. This year, she’s serving as Plan II Students’ Association President, interning at the Harry Ransom Center, and volunteering at different institutions. Aside from music and art, she loves rice, backpacking, and her perfume–“Woman” by Pitbull.
Tiana Woodard
content editor
Everything about Tiana cries journalism major, but she’s actually a second-year English major who decided to add on Radio-Television-Film after writing an adapted screenplay of the children’s book Madeline last fall. With artists such as BROCKHAMPTON, The Internet, and Kali Uchis now making the most-listened to spot on her Spotify account, Tiana believes that she’s past her K-pop phase. But, she can still be found mumbling incoherent, Korean lyrics to any of BTS’ hits while procrastinating on her research papers in the late hours of the night. And when she’s not procrastinating on coursework, you can find her editing in The Daily Texan room, writing at Spark Magazine meetings, hanging with LHB, or writing her own stories.
Ayesha Din
design editor
Ayesha Din is a sophomore Design major born and raised in ATX. When she’s not checking out a new dessert place or visiting Costco with her entire family late at night, she’s busy working on ways to reorganize her bedroom into an art deco-IKEA. Ayesha can’t promise that she’ll show up to things on time or remember to respond to your texts, but she’ll always make up for it by taking you out for boba and drawing up any graphics you could ever possibly need (which is how she got roped into this position).
paige giordano
design editor
Paige Giordano is a second-year Design major (interest specifically in graphic design) from Round Rock, Texas. She is a Virgo/ISFP with interests in art, astronomy, and music. Paige listens to whatever types of music pleases her which includes Ariana Grande, Panic! At the Disco and Janelle Monae. She has other interests in drawing, sculpture art, art history, astronomy, and aliens. You can probably find Paige on a Saturday night watching too many movies on Netflix while drinking peach tea.
Jonathan Castro
photography editor
Jonathan is a Design/R.T.F double major. He can usually be found in the gym powerlifting, in a coffee shop, or hunting for the perfect angle to snap a millionth shot of the tower. He is always up for a talk about anything pop culture, football, or dogs. He plans on directing a super hero feature length film starring a hispanic lead.
Simon Tolman
multimedia editor
Simon is a second-year RTF major from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Along with the radiant beam of light that is Lil Uzi Vert, Simon enjoys the music of Steve Lacy, Noname, and whatever a groovy white dad listens to. His favorite meal is Spaghetti Carbonara but he is also an avid supporter of the 4 for 4 meal. Simon is thrilled to be a part of the Afterglow team and looks forward to combining his passions for film, music, and social justice.
Nick Gonzales
social media editors
Nick Gonzales is a fourth-year marketing/advertising double major in the Texas Creative sequence. If he could only eat three fruits for the rest of his life, he would choose peaches, cantaloupes, and strawberries. His most problematic quality is that he is and always will be a proud Swiftie. Some of his other favorite artists include Lykke Li, Chairlift, and any other musical act who could have easily been the background music in a commercial for the iPod Shuffle.
Zoe Judilla
social media editor
Zoe Judilla is a second-year Journalism and Radio-Television-Film double-major who was once described as “a girl who looks like she listens to Charli XCX.” A short and ambitious ENFP Aries, she is armed daily with a cup of iced coffee and flared jeans, and is always up for discourse about the latest in pop culture, media representation or the art of the ‘90s rom-com soundtrack. In addition to Afterglow, she writes for Spark Magazine, Silk Club’s Quiet! Zine and Music for ORANGE Magazine, and is also a part of the female-empowered Texas Lassos. When she’s not consuming new content, from binging the latest Netflix Original Series (watch GLOW!) to curating absurd playlists based on both fictional and true scenarios, she can be found choreographing contemporary pieces that will never see the light of day, belting “What’s Up?” by 4 Non-Blondes on karaoke night or making a mean, mean omelette.
Hailey Bartholomew
program coordinator
Hailey is a fourth-year majoring in sociology with a minor in advertising and is on the exec board for the spirit group Texas Lassos. Her fave artists include Frank Ocean, Kendrick Lamar, and Disclosure, but she pretty much listens to anything and thoroughly enjoys podcasts. She is addicted to coffee and diet coke, uses bird scooters way too often, and is obsessed with P. Terry’s. She has a pet cat named Nugget that’s super adorable and hopes to live in Europe at some point in her life. She hates the word “lozenge” and loves spending too much money at Urban Outfitters and Amazon Prime. On a Saturday night you’ll most likely find her dancing downtown with her girlfriends in Lassos or catching a new indie film at Alamo Drafthouse.
Neel Homchowdhury
program coordinator
Neel is a third-year international art thief/musician turned Neuroscience major (or the other way around, depending who’s asking). His music rotation includes everything from The Strokes to Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream: the best Katy Perry Album, in case anyone’s wondering. Most Saturday nights, Neel can be found curled up on his couch devouring a bag of Hot Cheetos watching The Great British Bakeoff. Neel’s passion for music is only matched by his love of Fried Chicken and any Fried Chicken-related food items. He looks forward to helping Afterglow put on events this semester!
