Well, the time has finally come.
It’s beyond surreal to see my time at Boston University coming to a close, especially when it feels like just yesterday I was donning a mask (yes, we were in the thick of the pandemic four years ago) and making the trek to the 13th floor of my freshman year dorm. I felt like a small caterpillar, tucked into the chrysalis of my half-an-already cramped dorm room, trying to make friends in brief elevator encounters and my few in-person classes.
Then, I found the @hercampusbu Instagram. I’d seen what Her Campus could look like from the account of a girl from my hometown who graduated a few years ahead of me, but for some reason, I hadn’t pieced together that I should look for the organization on my college campus. I clicked follow, and the rest is history.
I was eager to apply, anxious while awaiting my decision, and overjoyed when I was accepted.
I started on our chapter’s media team, making YouTube videos showcasing what a day in my life was like, study tips and tricks, and even filming a travel weekend when I visited my family for Thanksgiving during my sophomore fall. I look back on these little moments in time and can’t help but giggle at the uncertain and small-feeling girl I was, just trying to put any amount of joy into the new beginning that is undergraduate education.
I quickly applied to be on the executive board and earned a position as the recruitment director in the spring of my sophomore year, intending to become co-president and co-campus correspondent the following fall. I was ecstatic, to say the least — me, boasting the title of editor-in-chief of a campus magazine? It was almost more than I could ever hope for.
While our chapter definitely had its bumps along the way, I’m proud to say that, with the dedication of our ever-growing and changing executive board and faithful general members, we have become the almost 100-member-strong group we are today. I leave a piece of my heart with each and every one of my girls as I prepare to embark on the most ambitious chapter of my life thus far (yay law school! Yay student debt!).
It’s a struggle to put into words just what this organization means to me. Sure, it’s easy to talk about how I’ve grown in leadership within the club itself, but that in no way begins to describe the wave of emotions that I feel at penning these final words into the pages-long chapter in my life that is Her Campus.
From the borderline-insufferable sweltering days spent tabling at Splash to scheduling articles before I’ve even so much as thought about what I’ll eat for breakfast and everything in between, HCBU has been the bedrock of my college experience. I’ve loved watching our writers develop their own niches, our media team curate incredible content, our public relations team develop HCBU as its own enterprise, and our events team celebrate our values through bonding in each and every way.
I’ll miss the way my co-president, Sophia, sighs and says, “Oh, Sam!” after a long day. I’ll miss making crazy phone calls during events to ensure things run smoothly. I’ll miss the feeling of warmth and camaraderie that our members pour into every room they enter. I’ll even miss participating in the odd TikTok (and if you know me, that’s saying something!).
This organization has genuinely given me everything (and more) that I could have asked for out of my college experience. Even though a simple thank you doesn’t even begin to cover it all, that’s what I’m going to run with for now so I don’t get tears all over my computer.
From the chrysalis is born a butterfly. Thank you, HCBU, for giving me my wings.
We had a great run, didn’t we? HCXO, Sam.
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