I joined Her Campus Lasell in the second semester of my freshman year. This was a vulnerable time for me; my roommate had just moved out, I changed my major, and I didn’t have any friends on campus. I had no idea if I even wanted to stay here.
Then I found HerCampus.com. I had heard of it before, but didn’t quite know what it was. Truthfully, I thought it was some kind of sorority or something cliquey, and I really didn’t want to be part of a clique. But wow, was I wrong! My mom and sister convinced me to sign up for Her Campus Lasell and I decided to attend the first meeting.
Picture this: the editor, Cait, sitting in the front of the room with a notebook. Me, sitting at a desk with absolutely no idea who any of these other girls are here. Enter Angela and Taylor (the future CCs), laughing and screaming about something that happened today. Cait looks over at me and says “I promise not all meetings are like this.”
That statement was also wrong.
While I felt intimidated in the beginning (mostly because I really had no clue about the HC lingo and editorial world), I slowly started to feel accepted in Her Campus Lasell. I went to bonding nights and became friends with the members who loved being part of Her Campus. I became comfortable enough to start pitching and writing articles, and that was it. I was hooked, and I wanted to stay a part of this group for the rest of college.
Soon enough, sophomore year approached and our staff decided we would need a copyeditor to help with editing articles. When nobody volunteered, I took the opportunity and fell in love with it. I knew that this was what I wanted to do in the future. I wanted to edit and work for an online publication. That semester, we went from being a gold-level chapter to pink, and I’m not going to lie, I screamed when I found out. That’s how much this meant to me.
Since then, my life with Her Campus Lasell has been both chaotic and rewarding. When Angela and Taylor were set to graduate, I accepted the role of becoming the Editor-in-Chief and CC, and transitioned for my second semester of junior year. In only two years, I had made this incredible advancement in a club I thought was some kind of judgy clique. We’ve stayed at pink level and even with a small staff, we continued to make an impact both on campus and on the website.
Of course, there were some struggling times too. When I was transitioning to CC the beginning of my junior year, we had dropped to gold level. We were determined to get back, and we did. Then in my first semester as CC, we were faced with losing pink level yet again, but we persevered at the end and made it through. At the start of my senior year, we had a total of six members on our staff, and they were all part of our executive board. We had to recruit members, ASAP. Thankfully we gained about 15 new members, with the same ambition I had during my first semester at HC Lasell. Everyone faces these challenges, and I can’t express how happy I am that we overcame them.
Her Campus Lasell allowed me to pursue other opportunities as well. I became a Community Development intern at Her Campus HQ in the fall of my senior year, and absolutely loved it. I loved the job so much that I was asked to stay on as an intern in the spring with more tasks. I also started a position as a National Feature Writer, where instead of just writing for HC Lasell, I got to write for the national website too.
I don’t know where I’d be without HC, if I’m being completely honest. I wouldn’t have the confidence I have now, or the skills and experience. When faced with the real world, I’m about 40 percent more comfortable than I was when I started college. For me, HC Lasell wasn’t just another club. It became my home. It was the place where I could write what I wanted and feel accepted, even when I felt different or weird. I learned more about journalism and being professional from Her Campus than I have in some of my classes (of course not yours, Professor Franklin).
I can’t even tell you how much I’m going to miss being part of this after I graduate. I’ll miss our Thursday meetings in Donahue 315 at 2:15. I’ll miss bonding nights, and brainstorming, and the Bart Johnson Minute. I’ll miss freaking out with my staff when we get an article nationally featured. Her Campus Lasell was my safe place, where I felt the most comfortable throughout all of my years at Lasell College. It’s given me the most amazing opportunities that I’ll talk about for years. I can honestly say that Her Campus has changed my life.
Thank you, Her Campus. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me. And thank you to my amazing, wonderful, hard-working, kickass staff through the years for putting up with me and being so passionate about this club. I wish you the utmost success in the years to come and that you will continue to keep pink-level status so we have a legacy (and eventually more funding). As I’m about to step into the real world, I can only hope that everyone who joins Her Campus Lasell will feel an impact as much as I did.
Now, who has article ideas?