Being the Instagram Chair for the Her Campus University of Connecticut Instagram account during the 2025-2026 school year has obviously shot my screen time through the roof, from scrolling for the newest content ideas, spending endless hours on Pinterest for inspiration, checking analytics, and working tirelessly on Canva to create new graphics for the account. Somewhere between all of these things, being the Instagram Chair for HC UConn has become a much bigger part of my college experience than I ever thought it would.
Discovering Her Campus Before UConn
What started out as a fun and interesting way to meet new people and write creatively quickly turned into one of the most integral parts of my college experience. I was originally introduced to HC UConn through reading old high school classmates’ articles through their Instagram stories. They went to UConn, and at the time, I did not. I was immediately intrigued, as my community college had nothing like HC UConn. I always knew I would be transferring to UConn, so I followed the HC UConn Instagram and kept up occasionally through my freshman and sophomore years.
It wasn’t until my junior year, when I transferred to UConn and attended the involvement fair, when I genuinely considered applying for HC UConn. However, between the anxiety of moving away from home, adjusting to larger class sizes, and UConn’s rigorous academics, I completely missed the fall application deadline. I was actually so bummed I thought about it for weeks, not realizing there would be a spring application (lol).
Joining Her Campus UConn
I applied and was accepted into HC UConn in the spring semester of my junior year, and immediately started writing and pitching articles. I wasn’t as involved in bonding events as I wish I had been, coming from someone who has always been incredibly shy (and lowkey awkward!), I wanted to remain behind the scenes (and in the back row of HC meetings). If you’re like me, I promise you’ll regret this. Please meet as many people in our chapter as possible; they might even become your closest friends during your time at UConn.
When I saw e-board applications were opening up for the next academic year, I immediately doubled-down and started working on my sample pieces. I knew I wanted to run Instagram from the moment applications opened. As a communications major who was incredibly interested in social media marketing, I saw this as a prime opportunity to gain hands-on experience in content creation and graphic design. I have learned so much about social media, tracking trends, analytics, and have improved significantly on my graphic design skills. There’s obviously so much more learning to do, but running the HC UConn Instagram has provided me with an outlet to test anything and everything.
Giving Credit Where It’s Due
Mia Keazer, the Instagram Chair for HC UConn throughout 2023-2025 was honestly the most helpful in answering any questions I had about the role, and I cannot thank her enough for being so patient and attentive, even when my questions might have been a bit annoying or repetitive. And I will admit, I think that she did a much better job at running the Instagram than I have, and from time to time, I have taken inspiration from the posts she created for the account in the past. Keazer set such a strong foundation for the account that it made my job stepping into the role so much easier.
My Experience Running @hercampusuconn Instagram
One of the most important lessons that I’ve learned running the HC UConn Instagram is that not every post is going to be perfect. Not every post is going to perform well, and you’re certainly (at times) going to run into a creative block. One of the things that has helped me the most is scrolling through Pinterest.
I have a dedicated “social media/graphic design” board where I save anything from marketing concepts, sports graphic design, logos, color palettes — you name it, I probably have it saved. I absolutely love scrolling through Pinterest because it helps me come up with new ideas for content and sparks my creativity. Inspiration is crucial for hitting the quota of five in-feed posts per week.
Our chapter’s Photocircle is something I heavily rely on for content when there isn’t anything else to post. We’re not always going to have bonding events or announcements that need to be posted to Instagram, and I won’t always have a cute or fun graphic idea to post, so knowing how to curate content from the Photocircle is incredibly important.
Carefully curated photo dumps always perform better than posting just one photo to meet that day’s posting requirements. It’s important to find that balance. Hitting the five in-feed posts requirement weekly hasn’t been that stressful because I utilize Instagram’s post scheduling feature, allowing me to create and curate posts in advance without having to ever hit the post button! It also helps me plan out the grid in advance rather than as I post.
Something that I didn’t expect when taking on the role was just how often I would find myself thinking about the account throughout the day. I’ve caught myself noticing graphics posted by other organizations, saving posts that inspire me, or even seeing something completely unrelated and immediately thinking about how it could translate into content for the HC UConn Instagram.
Running the account has definitely changed the way I look at social media. Instead of just scrolling for entertainment, I’ve learned to pay attention to design choices, color palettes, layouts, and the ways other accounts interact with their audiences. Even when I’m not actively creating posts, I’m still constantly thinking about ways to improve the account and keep the content fresh and engaging.
Running the HC UConn Instagram account has become so much more than just managing a social media page. Between the endless scrolling for inspiration, late nights on Canva, and constantly thinking about new ideas for posts, the account slowly became part of my everyday life. It pushed me to be more creative, more observant, and more confident in sharing ideas. While not every post performed perfectly and creative blocks definitely happened along the way, every graphic, photo dump, and article promotion felt like a small contribution to something bigger than myself. Being trusted with the Her Campus UConn Instagram during the 2025–2026 school year has truly been one of the most meaningful parts of my time at UConn, and I will always be grateful for the experience.