It’s hard to miss Evanston’s mascot when he’s standing on the sidelines with his bright orange fur and signature blue jersey. Willie the Wildkit is a beloved Evanston tradition. Part of the myth is his anonymity—you might sit next to Willie in class, pass him in the halls or stand next to him in the lunch line without ever knowing he was more than a regular student.

This Valentine’s Day, the current face behind the costume provided the Evanstonian with the chance to get the inside scoop on what it means to be Willie the Wildkit. As he begins to close out his senior year, Evanston’s mascot reminisced on the success, challenges and history of the town icon.

The Evanstonian: What inspired you to become Willie The Wildkit?

Willie: I remember sophomore year they didn’t have Tuesday tidbits, they had just the slideshow that they used to play. I remember Willie tryouts being on there, and I thought that’d be fun. So I asked my uncle, “Should I do it?” He was like, “That’d be hilarious if you did it.” So I did it. I always was interested in mascots; that’d be cool if I did it once or twice but I didn’t know if I’d do it for a couple years.

TE: What was the process like to step into your role as our school mascot? What did training look like? Have there been teachers or coaches that have played a key role in your involvement?

Willie: The person that runs it, her name is Ms. Sales; she is one of the Cheer coaches for Varsity Cheer. She’s really nice. I really haven’t done any training with the school, I mostly just train on my own, consuming as much mascot content as I can. I would stretch before going in, because usually I’m standing for two to three hours and jumping around, just stuff like that. The Willie program is not super-developed. We don’t do extensive training.

TE: Did you receive any advice from the last student to be Willie?

Willie: One thing he said was “make sure you wear shorts and a tank top,” because you’re screwed if you’re not. Wearing a belt was something that he told me to do, and I didn’t do it the first game. That was a mistake.

TE: Did the role come naturally to you?

Willie: Sophomore year, the first couple of times [I] was really nervous. I remember we didn’t really have a belt for the pants. I didn’t know that, and my pants were kind of falling down. I started bringing my own belt that I’d wrap around my waist, and it was fine from there. It was really nerve-wracking because I didn’t want to be identified,  and I wanted to do well. It was really all nerves sophomore year. Junior year was really when they were like, “We really like you, and we want to keep you,” and that’s when I opened up and was less nervous. I felt more comfortable, and I wasn’t super uptight.

TE: Can you walk us through your approach to being the school’s mascot?

Willie: I always liked to root for my team, and [I] get really excited when we do well, so it [has been] easy for me to jump around and get excited when we score. I also have little cousins, so I work really well with kids, which makes it easy for me to try and connect with the little kids when they may be scared or if they just want a hug. I like messing with people I know or just mess[ing] with random people. It’s fun to have that energy.

TE: What is it like being in a role where others don’t know the person behind the costume?

Willie: It’s freeing. I’d be embarrassed to go on the court in front of a bunch of people and dance and jump around all that stuff [without the costume]. But when people don’t know that it’s you, it’s like you’re a whole different person. You can do whatever you want, be silly and you don’t have to worry about being judged. It’s really fun to not be yourself for a couple of hours.

TE: In loud-packed arenas, the atmosphere is very lively. How do you handle having all eyes on you?

Willie: I try to have fun with it, honestly. It gets a little nerve-wracking, especially in high-intensity moments. When we’re playing New Trier at home, it definitely gets chaotic. I can’t even go into the stands when we’re playing New Trier at home because there’s no space to walk up there; every seat is taken. It’s a lot of fun.

TE: What is the most challenging part of being Willie?

Willie: It’s a lot of fun, but the most challenging part is being at football games. They’re so long, and I’m in the suit an hour before the game starts. Games usually start at 7 p.m, but I’m usually there at 5:30 p.m. and in the suit by 6:00 p.m. I don’t get out of the suit until probably 10. I remember junior year we did a Willie event, and I was in the suit from 5 p.m. to 9:30 or 10:00 p.m.

TE: How did Willie the Wildkit come to be Evanston’s mascot?

Willie: I know this is the fourth iteration of the suit [and] that [ETHS] took it from Northwestern’s [mascot], Willie the Wildcat. Because we were the high school nearest [to Northwestern], we just [used] Kit instead of Cat.

TE: Have you ever interacted with other schools’ mascots?

Willie: I did an event with Willie the Wildcat [Northwestern’s mascot] and that was a lot of fun. I was a lot taller—I’m 6’2” so in the mascot suit I’m like 6’4”, 6’5”, and Willie The Wildcat was probably under six feet tall. The Willie the Wildcat head is not super big, so I was towering over this person. We took a lot of pictures with little kids. It was a lot of fun, because I got to see what [Willie the Wildcat] was doing as a college mascot, and I copied some of the things that they did and their mannerisms. It was a really cool experience.

TE: How has being Willie The Wildkit strengthened your connection to the Evanston community?

Willie: I got to do a lot of events with the community. I remember I did an event that was a read-a-thon. I did the Juneteenth parade with ETHS.

TE: As you approach the end of your senior year, what do you anticipate missing most about ETHS?

Willie: Honestly, I’m going to miss football season a lot. Everyone’s there, and it’s just so fun. Especially beating New Trier, that one game was so fun—that was such a close game, and it was so hype. That’s probably what I’m gonna miss the most, the home football games.