This weeks Campus Celeb, is none other than our own Her Campus president, Nahja Martin. When she’s not doing a million things for Her Campus Pitt, she’s also involved in other organizations across campus. Get to know the wonderful lady that helps make Her Campus Pitt run smoothly!
Year: Senior
Major: Political Science and Spanish Minor
Hometown: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
HC: So you’re graduating this year! Any plans?
NM: I am considering the idea of moving back to England for grad school and hopefully I’ll be able to stay there and work for Lush, the cosmetics company I work for now. That’s ideal. Hopefully I’ll be doing something in Creative Buying for Lush before going on to law school. I’ve also applied to join Teach For America which is so exciting! There are so many opportunities I’m considering!
HC: Do you have any idea what kind of law you want to do?
NM: I’ve always been interested in human rights issues, like human trafficking and women’s rights. So I hope to pursue a career in international and human rights law.
HC: So I want to start talking about Her Campus. You are our wonderful President, but how did you get involved with Her Campus?
NM: *As she munches on her burrito* I joined Her Campus while I was on a year abroad at the University of Exeter. I joined on a whim actually because a friend of mine wrote for HC at William and Mary and really wanted to join the new Exeter team. It was totally unexpected that I’d stay with HC! But, I ended up joining the sex and relationships team and started the column “The Virgin Diaries” which was awesome!
HC: In your words, what is Her Campus?
NM: Her Campus is, for me, an outlet for expression where there is no judgment or conformity. You can literally be whoever you want and express yourself in your writing. In “The Virgin Diaries” I got to break down stereotypes about virgins; I made it funny and relatable, which is what Her Campus does for its readers.
HC: You’ve been President for about a year, and recently Pitt was named a Pink Level chapter! What do you attribute that to?
NM: A lot of credit definitely goes to the Girls Night Out event last year, which is coming again up in a few weeks, Charmers for Charity, and the diversity amongst writers—we have freshman to seniors, and now guys! Also, definitely the publicity around campus—we’ve gotten everyone from every type of social group to join. All of this is mostly due to copious amounts of coffee for the amazing E-Board! We work like crazed coffee addicts in order to make sure HC Pitt is, and stays, amazing haha! I honestly could not ask for a better team!
HC: What does Her Campus have coming up?
NM: Girls Night Out, which is November 14th at Peter’s! We have a Halloween candy fundraiser the week of Halloween (look out for the facebook event!) and in the Spring we will have the 2nd annual Charmers for Charity male fashion show which I’m really excited about haha!
HC: Where do you want to see Her Campus go?
NM: I want to see Her Campus known all over Pitt’s campus. We’ve gotten more popular over the last few semesters so I think we’re headed in the right direction there. I’d really like for the organization to have more of a philanthropic role in getting young girls in the area interested in going to college, and showing them the benefits of going to college and joining an awesome organization like Her Campus. I’d eventually like to see Pitt’s Her Campus host a Her Campus College Fashion Week as well!
HC: What else are you involved in on-campus (aside from being our awesome President)?
NM: I am a voting member of the Judicial Committee, a Community Outreach Specialist and consultant for SCNO (Students Consulting for Non-Profit Organizations), and I’m a big sister for Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Greater Pittsburgh.
HC: What are your favorite things to do on Pitt’s campus?
NM: When I’m not running around (which is not too often), I really like lounging in bed, curled up with a super comfy blanket, a glass of red wine (or warm cider), and watching a movie, New Girl, or Scandal! Usually after a crazy week, I just spend weekends with my best friend doing just that! Technically it’s not on Pitt’s campus, but I like to do nothing when I can! I also love a good Razzy run! You can never have too much Razzy. But fro-yo aside, I think my favorite place on campus is the quiet study room on the first floor of Hillman. It’s always warm and super quiet in there so I can always get some prime studying (or HC things) done!
Photos are from Nahja’s personal Facebook.