Edited by: Ananya Khandelwal (UG ’21)
HerCampus, your go-to guide for everything college life, is ready for another semester of new inspired writing. The first Indian chapter of this international online magazine welcomed it’s two new Campus Correspondents this year, Kangan Dhawan and Aadya Singh. Aadya and Kangan, both third-year undergraduates at Ashoka, have been instrumental in helping Her Campus Ashoka grow as a chapter in a creative and collaborative way.
What was your Her Campus journey like before becoming Campus Correspondents?
Aadya: Before being promoted to the Campus Correspondent position, I worked as a member and a head for the Social Media and Marketing team. Managing all three platforms of Her Campus Ashoka – Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, was genuinely a great experience. It exposed me to campus cultures across the world, marketing strategies, and wonderful Her Campus members from chapters worldwide.
Kangan: Her Campus has always been special to me, since it was the first club I joined on campus. Plus, it gives me the opportunity to do what I like the most – write. I have worked with Her Campus as a content writer, content head and an intern and all the roles have been equally fun and have offered a great learning experience!
Kangan Dhawan
How do you feel Her Campus is different from other publications found at Ashoka, and what do you love best about working with Her Campus?
Kangan: Most publications on campus are restricted to audience on campus. The content is centric to Ashoka, which thereby refrains the word from going out there. Due to the kind of content Her Campus produces, I feel it is relevant for both a campus student in Sonepat and maybe a student in New York City. This is the reason why I love working with Her Campus, it gives me the space to write about what matters to me as a writer.
Aadya: The essence of Her Campus at Ashoka is, and always will be, growth and empowerment. While most other publications at Ashoka have an underlying theme or focus mainly on reporting, Her Campus at Ashoka covers a wide range of themes – lifestyle, mental health, academia, politics, and travelling, among others. This warrants its journalistic potential.
Her Campus articles are targeted towards female college students albeit not limited to them. Do you think there’s a specific part of the college life which isn’t talked about that Her Campus covers or plans to cover?
Aadya: True, ‘female-oriented’ is an immediate inference that most people draw when they hear the title ‘Her Campus’. On the surface, it may seem like Her Campus addresses women. However, what’s important for us to understand is that we live in an age wherein women are transcending all bounds. The larger picture is a portrayal – a story – of a paradigm shift in society, and this is monumental for everyone. Her Campus journalistically magnifies the juncture of growth for many women – their college life. Taking this perspective forward, we hope to address themes such as career ideation, plans for higher studies, spiritual goals, and philanthropic inclinations within Ashoka.
Kangan: Yes, would love to cover more of Ashoka! Our coverage of the Ashoka campus culture is currently limited, and it would be great if campus events and club features could reach a wider audience!
Aadya Singh
People don’t often realise that Her Campus does not just post articles but actively offers internships and international collaborations with other chapters. Could you share some of these successful but relatively lesser known endeavours Her Campus Ashoka has seen?
Kangan: Last year, we had a lot of our content writers and editors who worked as interns under the Boston HCHQ. It is a great opportunity to get recognition for your work. We have also collaborated with Clemson University over a PenPal Initiative. Writers from Her Campus Ashoka got in touch with some students at Her Campus Clemson and made friends by communication through writing.
Aadya: We also did this really cool ‘social media takeover’ collaboration with Her Campus Harvard. Her Campus Ashoka and Her Campus Harvard swapped social media accounts for a day, and we each shared our campus lives on the other’s social media through stories and posts!
Her Campus Ashoka has gone a structural change this year, with the introduction of a Visuals and International Collaboration Teams, and new Heads of Departments, could you share what ambitious plans are secretly spewing behind the scenes?
Aadya: We’re hoping to diversify content, hold engaging events, exhibit more of India’s culture, and have a bunch of international collaborations. We’re really looking forward to some interesting workshops we’ll be holding for the Ashokan student body – so stay tuned!
Kangan: Haha! We have a lot of plans for Her Campus Ashoka, and we really hope to see them all come through. We hope to have a monthly newsletter that would go out to the Ashoka students, hence increasing our presence on campus. That’s where the visuals team comes in. To increase accountability and introduce structure, we have put Team Heads in place – who are all extremely passionate about their departments!
As on online publication, how important do you think maintaining a social media presence is for Her Campus Ashoka? Do you think social media responses have furthered Her Campus Ashoka’s reach?
Aadya: We’re the generation of social media, memes, and instant ‘grat’! (Chuckles) And no doubt, the Her Campus Ashoka social media has established quite a bit of presence online. We’re especially quite connected with other Her Campus chapters.
Kangan: I feel it is extremely important for any publication to have a strong online presence. These days, the fastest and the most efficient way to reach people is through social media. Specifically for Her Campus Ashoka, I would say that our social media presence has helped us to keep in touch with other Her Campus chapters, as well as give our content a marketing platform.
What are your plans for Her Campus Ashoka, to help it grow its presence in the international circuit?
Kangan: We hope to be a Gold Level chapter soon! But it’s a long way ahead. We are also looking for more collaborations with Her Campus chapters across the network.
Aadya: I agree with Kangan, we are striving to be a Gold Level chapter. To do this, we definitely believe that international presence is important. One among many ways we wish to do this, is by incorporating interviews and social media connect with Ashoka’s internationally renowned faculty. Ashoka really is blessed to have Professors from distinguished universities across the world, and we hope to exhibit the same through Her Campus Ashoka.
What are you most excited about doing with Her Campus Ashoka this year?
Kangan: I am truly excited about everything that is coming along. We have events, newsletters, fun activities and some really interesting content planned. We’ve got a great team of members, who are coming in with a new perspective and fresh ideas, and I can’t wait to start implementing it all!
Aadya: What I’m looking forward to is fostering a feeling of mutual growth, expansion, and belonging within Her Campus Ashoka. Both our old and new members are insanely creative, intelligent, and dedicated in their fields, and I’m excited for all that they will bring to Her Campus Ashoka this year.