This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Ohio U chapter.
When you think of Athens, celebrities are not the first thing that comes to mind. But seeing that it’s a college campus, you are bound to find people interested in the entertainment world.
Holly Coletta is one of those people. Holly, a senior majoring in journalism, has served as editor-in-chief of Speakeasy Magazine. Her childhood dreams came true last semester when she was chosen to complete an internship with BOP and Tiger Beat magazines. As a “shy and awkward tween,” Holly was an avid reader of the teenybopper magazines. “The passion those readers bring is really adorable and great,” she says.
Working at a magazine with a specialized audience gave Holly a great crash course in niche audiences. “Interning with BOP and Tiger Beat has probably been the most fun I’ve had doing an internship. I basically got to gush about my embarrassing love for the teen pop culture world with absolutely no shame three or four days a week. My editor was super cool and just as passionate about Justin Bieber’s pet hamster as I was,” she says.
This internship fulfilled more for Holly than a validation of her girl crush on Selena Gomez. “I’ve always wanted to be a writer, and I’ve kind of always wanted to write for that market—being a preteen girl can just be the worst thing. Obviously we all grow out of it, but I want to do anything I can to help inspire all those future shy, awkward journalists” she says.
While Ohio University may not be Hollywood on the Hocking, with a little improvisation, a resourceful journalist like Holly can unveil the limelight. “I’ve definitely worried about not getting enough experience as an entertainment journalist, but there are ways to make it work, even if that’s by making lots of Walking Dead references when you’re writing a feature story about HVZ [Humans vs. Zombies] or writing a final about the English department teaching The Hunger Games,” she says.
Holly explains why she is so passionate about celebrity culture, “I love the entertainment industry because I love telling stories or reading about stories. It’s not so much about the celebrities to me as it is about the industry as a whole. There’s just so much talent and so much awesome and somebody has to have the task of telling everybody about it.”
But one can understandably get lost in the dreamy aura of her celebrity crush “My list of future husbands usually fluctuates depending on what TV show I’m currently binging on,” Holly says. “I’m super way behind on this bandwagon, but I recently fell in love with Adam Scott because his characters are almost always just manifestations of “Perfect Boyfriend.” I’m also still trying to get over how attractive Captain Hook [Colin O’Donoghue] is on Once Upon a Time. And I have a serious fan girl thing for Dylan O’Brien from Teen Wolf. I would marry him now or tomorrow or yesterday and not just because he also loves Selena Gomez.”
At Ohio University, her favorite class has been “Review and Criticism” because it helped her hone her voice and style. She also confesses to taking “Precision Language” for fun with “no regrets.”
Holly’s dream job would be to work for Entertainment Weekly. “I’d love to work for any sort of magazine that’s focused on entertainment/pop culture, but EW has been my dream for just about ever.”
Many aspiring journalists can take cue from Holly’s resourcefulness and self-motivation as well as the dedication she puts toward her passion for the entertainment industry and her career.