If you have been following the MCLA Her Campus chapter, then you know just how amazing our Campus Correspondent Catherine Duhaime is. Coming from a loving but not so simple family life, Cat is hands down one of the most loving and influential people in my life. Knowing her for only seven shorts months, I have learned a tremendous amount from her. With each article I write and each bad day I face, I learn something new from Cat. Throughout these seven months Cat has transformed in more ways than one.
As a first year at MCLA, I knew I wanted to get involved and this urge for involvement started before I even graduated high school. I had all of these hopes and dreams for certain clubs on the colleges I had applied too. When I chose MCLA as the college I was going to further my education at, I had no idea Her Campus or Cat existed. Her Campus was just starting up and wasn’t/isn’t SGA affiliated yet. Being apart of the MCLA Class of 2020 FaceBook page, I saw the then Campus Correspondent Mitchell making posts looking for people to join Her Campus. Knowing this could be something I was interested in as I was dying for involvement, I messaged him. From there, I became a staff writer for the love section and a few short weeks later Mitch told me my editor was going to be Catherine Duhaime.
For awhile Cat and I didn’t have conversations outside of the Her Campus world, it was simply about the articles written and advice on them. Cat’s comments on parts of my articles such as “yaaaaaa” and “love this!” always inspired me and helped my pride for my writing grow tremendously. Seeing someone as advanced as Cat agree and truly have emotion in the words I was typing made my confidence soar as well as put a smile on my face.. Meetings weren’t always fun, sometimes they dragged on and they always take place on Fridays. By the end of the week I am drained and the last thing I want to do is sit around a meeting, but having Cat there really made the meetings worth going to. Her smiling face and enthusiasm for Her Campus brought life to the meetings.
I’m not really sure when Cat went from just my editor to a mentor, to a friend, to one of the greatest people I have ever came to know. We gradually became closer and now I find myself looking forward to the random SnapChats from her or the “I appreciate you so much” texts. The transformation with Cat is more than just editor to friend, she also went from editor, co Campus Correspondent, to Campus Correspondant. Watching Cat come so far in such a small amount of time has been inspirational and influential. She is a positive role model and each day I am thankful to have such an incredible Campus Correspondent, editor, mentor, and friend.
From getting to know Cat as more than just the person who edits my articles and the woman who runs the hours long friday meetings, I have learned more than just writing skills and life lessons. As we all know life isn’t easy and by knowing more about Cat than just the basics, I see how someone with a not so simple past can become an inspiring and bright young lady. She is independent, strong, authoritative, and of course beautiful. Catherine Duhaime is going to be someone one day, an important someone… well more important than she already is. She is filled with ambition, motive, and potential and I know it is all going to come to use one day. She is going to change the world, for the better. She has a voice that she is not afraid to use to make a change. Catherine Duhaime is a 21, soon to be 22, young lady who has only just begun her journey of making a difference.
Learning from Cat these past few months has honestly been a privilege I didn’t know I was receiving when we first began talking. If it wasn’t for Mitch, Her Campus never would have been restarted at MCLA and then Cat and I would have never met. Even the smallest of things can end up being blessings in disguise and I’m grateful this was one of them. I am looking forward to see the growth the two of us and the chapter continues to make as time goes on. In a just a few short months Cat will graduate and begin her journey to excellence. Of course college and Her Campus will never be the same without her, however, I am eager to hear about and watch the achievements and failures she is going to make along this journey. She is destined for greatness and I haven’t doubted that greatness for a second. Being able to learn and grow beside her this year is a privilege I will be eternally grateful for. (Even if she becomes a life changing famous author in the future and forgets I exist someday) ;)