I joined Her Campus at App State at the beginning of my Sophomore year. I was told that I needed to be involved in another club other than just my sorority, so I thought Her Campus would be a fun way to get involved on campus. Never in a million years would I have imagined it would have gotten me to the place I am in now.
I am an Elementary Education major and I graduate tomorrow. I was never really interested in journalism or PR before and I really knew nothing about it. I just knew I enjoyed writing and I thought Her Campus would be a great platform for me to write things that women my age could relate to; to help me know I am not alone in the struggles I faced throughout my collegiate years.
In my time serving Her Campus, I have learned a lot of very valuable lessons.
I quickly learned how the world of journalism worked, even if it was a low stakes, college environment. I learned about deadlines and why it is important to meet them and keep them.
At the end of my Sophomore year, our CCs thought I had the potential to serve as Senior Editor for the next school year. As Senior Editor, I learned how important it is to be understanding to other people’s current situations and to be flexible with individuals during a very stressful semester. I learned how to be a leader and to lead with compassion.
At the end of my term as Senior Editor, I was chosen to be a CC as Editor-in-Chief. This was an incredible honor for me because I knew my hard work the last two years had paid off. I looked up to the CCs in my previous years, and it was really cool to think that someone could possibly look up to me that way. I did my best to lead with compassion and understanding and I found it is important to be approachable as a leader. It is so important for your team to feel comfortable with you in order for them to respect you.
This year in Her Campus has been hard. It has been a lot of work to keep up with deadlines and to make sure we had enough content and posts on social media, but in the end, my experience in Her Campus has been second to none. I wouldn’t trade my years in this organization for anything, because it taught me so much about leadership and what it means to be dedicated to something.
Her Campus gave me an outlet to write about whatever I felt passionate about, and that is something I couldn’t have anywhere else. Her Campus even encouraged us to go outside of our comfort zone to write about things that we care about and feel passionate about. Her Campus inspired me to be a boss and know that women can do anything a man can do, but 10x better. Her Campus empowered me to go out and make a difference in the world, whether it be through my classroom or community work.
Thank you Her Campus, for helping me realize my potential and for empowering me to be a better, stronger woman.