Meet Her Campus’s Managing Editor Emma Schindler-Wood. Emma is currently in her second year of English and Creative Writing and has been part of Hercampus since it started in 2014. As Managing Editor she has great input on editing and writing and is an essential part of our Hercampus team!
What made you want to become managing editor?
I wanted to get more involved on the team. I quickly grew to love our Her Campus chapter and I wanted to contribute more. It’s only the second year for the team and myself, so I’m learning quite a lot very fast, which is awesome.
Does this position help you in other aspects of school and life?
My program very heavily relies on grammar and proper sentence structure, so yes, it keeps my mind thinking about that all the time. It keeps me in practice. I find that it mostly helps me with time management, organization, and social skills, though. Journalism is something I’m new at, and it put me in a new position that was out of my comfort zone at first. Now that I’ve stepped up as Managing Editor, I can definitely tell that I’m more willing to try new things and that I’m much more focused and I’m more organized in everything, including schoolwork.
What have you learned being managing editor?
A lot. I’ve learned to be flexible when technology doesn’t want to cooperate with a very online-reliant system. I’ve learned how to encourage people and that a positive attitude is the most important thing (in every situation). I’ve learned more about what a committed, driven, and close team really looks like. I’ve learned how to prioritize and that I love to help people. It’s a learning experience about myself, about the editing process, and about team management. I love it all.
What are some of the struggles of having an important role in an organization like this?
You have to be there all the time. I feel like the Campus Coordinators are much better at it than me, but I’m learning! You have to always be available to your team, even when it’s a weekend night and you’re out with friends. You have to answer those emails and have access to articles at all times! It’s also sometimes difficult to take on the tasks that other editors can’t do because of their schedules. I have to step down a lot of the time and do a lot of the little tasks, as well. The workload is never predictable.
You are a Her Campus writer, as well. What got you into that?
I love writing. Anything. I’m a creative writer primarily, and I’ve actually evolved more into a poet, but that doesn’t limit what I want to write about. I actually debated going into the Digital Journalism program at UWindsor when I was first applying to post-secondary. I wanted to be able to write more freely about my thoughts and some of the campus issues and events. It was a way to get to know this new school, as well. I started when I was a first-year and it got me involved immediately, and I’m so happy I did.
What are your hobbies outside of writing and editing?
I’m pretty much the classic writer: I listen to indie music, I go to cafes, I write poetry whenever I can, and I read. The bittersweet thing about studying your passion is that you don’t get to do that on your spare time during the school year. I don’t read leisurely from September through April because I have too much to read for my program! So for the time being, I do pilates, I see friends, and I draw when I feel like it. The problem with being a full-time student, Managing Editor, and a part-time retail worker is that I don’t have much time to have ‘hobbies’ during the school year. So it’s really a work hard/play hard kinda deal right now.
If someone came up to you who had never written or edited before but wanted to, what advice would you give them?
Be willing to learn. If you’re starting from ground 0, don’t be ashamed. Just be willing to branch out and try new things. If you have questions, ask! Read other articles to get a feel of our chapter. Work alongside another editor to see their process. Always be willing to learn and experience something different. No matter how old you are, everyone should be willing to learn something new.