Have you met our Essence College Ambassador yet? Meet Asia Ware! Asia is a junior, Strategic Communication major, English minor hailing from Queens, New York. Aside from serving as an Essence College Ambassador, Asia holds a number of titles. In the future she hopes to wear hats of many trades. Fabulous ones, of course. Asia wants to be a fashion editor, stylist, magazine editor-in-chief, entrepreneur, fashions blogger, and fitness guru.
On campus, Asia is the editor of the Campus section of The Hampton Script, a first year student leader of the Greer Dawson Wilson Student Leadership Training Program (SLP), and she is also a member of Women’s Caucus. While many were enjoying their summer vacations resting from school Asia took full advantage interning with ADEAM, where she worked closely with marketing and sales, College Fashionista, and worked as a brand ambassador for Banana Republic, broadening her knowledge in retail.
We had the awesome opportunity to sit down with the fashion and fitness guru and discuss her most recent opportunity.
HC: How did you hear about the ESSENCE College Ambassador Search?
AW: I heard about this search in so many different ways, it’s crazy. It’s like I knew it was for me early on in August when they announced it. My two big sisters from Hampton, Quayle and Daisha were the first to text me the photo when ESSENCE posted it on Instagram and they told me to apply. A few hours later, people I knew were tagging me under the photo on Instagram saying it sounds like something I’d be great for. Even about a week after they announced it I was still getting tagged from people I knew, and people who just knew what I was all about from Instagram. For everyone to even reach out to me like they did, I knew this was my calling.
HC: When did you realize that fashion and fitness was your calling?
AW: I realized fashion was my calling a while ago; I’ve always critiqued peoples outfit’s without noticing and I always made sure I was dressed well for as long as I can remember. I realized fashion was the industry I needed to work in my freshman year when I was assigned papers that had nothing to do with fashion but somehow my topic would have to do with appearance, fashion or something along those lines. I knew fitness was my calling after I started to document my journey and had so many people reaching out to be to tell me how much of an inspiration I was to them.
HC: How do you plan on making ESSENCE a name here on Hampton’s campus?
AW: Honestly, I think ESSENCE has a name on campus. It is not a foreign brand, especially to college students our age. However, I plan to make ESSENCE more of a name here by really just getting more people to know who I am by getting out and conducting more interviews about my chosen topics. I really want to hold events so students know more about ESSENCE than just the pages they read every month. On Friday, October 16th, when ESSENCE came to campus I had the opportunity to be apart of the activities all day long, and that is just the start of ESSENCE having more of a name on the campus.
HC: Are there any projects that we should be looking out for throughout the school year?
AW: Yes, I won’t spill too much, but monthly I will have video and blog content on Essence.com and I really need my Hampton family to support me. If I ever approach any students and ask them for an interview I don’t want them to look at me like I’m crazy when I’m giving them a chance to be on Essence.com, that’s huge! But, yes definitely look out, I have a lot in store, I won’t disappoint. This is what I’m passionate about.
HC: What advice do you have for someone who also would like to become an ESSENCE College Ambassador?
AW: TWO WORDS, Work hard. If you want to become an ambassador you truly have to work hard and know what you want out of this. When I first applied back in August, I knew I was ready to work. Through all four rounds I stayed dedicated and persistent. No one knows, but I was almost disqualified due to mailing issues. I truly had some trials and tribulations throughout the whole process, but I truly had faith in God that everything would work out. If you aspire to apply or this is something you can see yourself doing, work hard and be unique, if I was a basic applicant I wouldn’t have been chosen. I’m a true game changer and that showed throughout my rounds because I worked hard enough to show that. Also, I’m very approachable, so no one on campus should ever hesitate approaching me to ask for advice in the application process.
HC: How does it feel to have won this position?
AW: It is truly an indescribable feeling. When I got the call, the second I hung up I went to my best friend and cried tears of joy. It just feels amazing to work so hard for something, and it pays off. I wanted this so bad, and all I could think about for the last few weeks of the search is what I would do if I win. So, when I got that call, my heart dropped. Not only because I was extremely happy, but because I knew that now the world really starts. I have to show that ESSENCE made the right choice, and they did. So now is my time to shine and prove that to ESSENCE, the campus and the world.