Name: Ana Cedeno
Major: Journalism
Year: Sophomore
Hometown: Guayaquil, Ecuador
HC Broward: Thank you for joining us today Ana! As Cofounder and Editor in Chief of Her Campus Broward, your hard news style and critical approach to reporting on current events is the result of writing for many publications before Her Campus. Tell us about your experience.
Ana: I started off doing contributing work for B.C.’s newspaper, The Observer. I covered news on South Campus and pretty much anywhere that was needed. I then became North Bureau Chief a few months later. I held that position for two years before a family emergency made it hard for me to make it to meetings. It was with The Observer that I went to a freelance fair and started writing as a contributor for Rise Miami News. I wrote for them as a contributor for another year. I’ve slowed down on both now that I’ve become the Editor in Chief for Her Campus, but am still contributing to The Observer.
HC Broward: Her Campus Broward has just launched, but we’ve already gained a following of readers with more on the way. Where do you foresee Her Campus Broward going forward?
Ana: I see it becoming a very close community. One of the nice things about B.C. North is that everyone sort of knows each other. It’s a small campus. I also see a lot of talent coming in, a lot of talent has already come in.
HC Broward: Whether it be criticizing Trump’s administration or defending feminism, you have a clear sense of social justice that you express verbally and in your writing. Has this in anyway influenced your choice in major?
Ana: Surprisingly, no. I chose journalism because I love to write. It’s how I learn and how I expressed myself. The social justice aspect became a part of my writing when it became a part of me. My writing grew alongside me. I think it was more the people I met in college and the reading I did there that contributed to the social justice aspect. My writing just reflected it.
HC Broward: What advice do you have for college students who aren’t politically or socially “woke”?
Ana: To get informed. Woke gets used as a joke a lot, so I’m not all that crazy about the word itself. But a lot of things are coming to the forefront. Politics is that thing we all like to joke about and make fun of but it’s also something that directly affects our lives. I’m hardly the best example, but I can say it’s really important that we know what’s going on. Especially when it can affect us personally.
HC Broward: As a woman raised by immigrant parents in America, how do you deal with the contradictions of either culture? How have they defined your femininity?
Ana: For the longest time I was convinced I should have been a boy instead because they had more fun. I think I spent most of my childhood being defined by my culture. By what is expected of and acceptable of girls in a hispanic household. And they were all things I didn’t enjoy or wasn’t good at. Coming to America was painful, moving away from my grandparents and extended family when I had grown up with them just around the corner is probably one of the most defining moments of my life. But it did give me a chance to step away from the gender norms that so define hispanic culture. All of the sudden no one cared that I wore jeans, all of a sudden no one cared that I didn’t wear makeup. It allowed me to realize that the things I Iike are girl things. Because a girl likes them. Reconciling that with my culture can be difficult, but only when I’m around people who make it difficult. For the most part I’m over feeling conflicted about what parts of me are ‘American’ and ‘Hispanic’ and ‘Girly’ and ‘not girly’. They’re all just me. I’m just me.
HC Broward: On a lighter note, you enjoy watching a large volume of tv shows in your spare time. You’re also part of the fan communities of these shows known as “fandoms”. How does this differ from a normal audience?
Ana: Fandoms are a lot more fun to cover for one. There’s hardly bad news and unless you’re a hardcore fan, there’s nothing to get mad about. I grew up being ‘the dork’, I didn’t have access to a fandom as a kid. So it’s honestly really nice to know there are all these people who like the same things you do. That’s what fandom really is about. It also helps when you write reviews or cover new developments. If you’re in a fandom you usually find out about those pretty fast.
HC Broward: Speaking of being a “dork”, Dungeons and Dragons carries a negative connotation of being a game for basement dwelling geeks. As an D&D enthusiast, what do you have to say about this stigma?
Ana: I tend to not worry about it. The older you get the more you realize that there’s nothing wrong with enjoying what you enjoy and no real point in shaming people or feeling ashamed for it. I had the advantage of not being aware of the stigma. I just started playing this year. But I don’t really care about it either way. It’s not going to keep me from enjoying this game now that I’ve gotten into it. Name-calling didn’t bother me in High School. I know who I am. I know I’m not a basement dweller, you can see me doing outside activities with Her Campus all the time. Even if I was, I know better than to think that’s something I should answer for ir be ashamed of. The word geek isn’t an insult.
HC Broward: Thank you for sharing with us Ana! Your honesty and individuality are the heart and soul of this team.
HCXO!