We added a new feature to our site: Girl of the Week. Girl of the Week will showcase Augustana’s Her Campus Executive Board members. After all, they helped make our chapter happen. We wish to provide them a voice to share their experiences with the organization.
Our Girl of the Week is Allyson Jesse, one of our chapter’s Campus Correspondents. This week, I sat with Allyson to talk about her involvement in Augustana’s Her Campus. Big thanks to her for providing us with her insightful responses!
Her Campus Position?
I’m one of two Campus Correspondents (which is ultimately a co-president position). Melissa Conway is the other Campus Correspondent at Augie! My job is to oversee the chapter and make sure we are reaching weekly requirements in producing articles and posting on social media. I also help with event planning and organizing giveaways based on the products we receive in HC Survival Kits.
Other campus involvement?
I’m the president of Unabridged, Augie’s English club, and I’m one of SAGA’s Poetry Board Editors. I work in the costume shop in the theatre department too.
Why did you join Her Campus?
I joined Her Campus because of my majors. I’m an English and Creative Writing double major so I was thrilled to have a platform for writing that wasn’t just a one-time publication. I wanted to actively be working on articles and interacting with content from a journalism perspective. Her Campus also appealed to me because I loved the idea of women coming together to have conversations about life issues and publishing those ideas in articles. It felt like an opportunity to have my voice be heard while also being supported by other females.
What do you hope to achieve during your time in HC?
I really want to see our chapter grow at Augie. I want more girls (and guys!) to join our team and help build a stronger HC community. We’ve already accomplished so much for only starting Augie’s chapter last year; I want to continue to build upon those accomplishments. Shameless plug: we are always welcoming people to join our writing or editing staff, our social media team, our events planning board, and our marketing crew! Come to our Monday meetings in Olin 302 at 8 pm and we’ll give you more info. Guys who want to support women are more than welcome to join our team too!
What do you love most about being in HC?
I love the empowerment it gives women. I think it’s important for colleges to have feminist spaces that talk about what it’s like to be a female on a college campus, now more than ever. Working with other Augie girls has made me feel stronger and I never really knew I needed that until I joined Her Campus. Maybe that’s really cheesy, but it’s empowering to work together to accomplish goals. Along with that, HC gives me experience for my future with managing a team and organizing the group to meet requirements. I’ve found it to be a wonderful space to throw out ideas and work on bringing them to life with a team. Plus, Augie’s HC chapter hosts some amazing events that I always love going to. We’re not all work- we have lots of fun!
How do you think Her Campus will impact Augustana College?
My hope is that it creates a safe space on campus. That other females will want to join to have conversations about everything and anything and be in a creative space that allows them to do so. I hope more writers seek out Her Campus as a platform for their voice/stories/ideas to be heard.