Hello, everyone! I am Paige Pennebaker, the new Co-Chapter Correspondent for Her Campus at Chapel Hill. This is my second semester being part of Her Campus, first serving on the Content Writers and Events teams, and now as the Co-CC for our chapter. I’m super excited to be able to collaborate with a wonderful team of brilliant and unique young women. There are a lot of great events planned and plenty of other ideas in the works. For now, you can get to know me better!
Major/Minor: I am majoring in English and Comparative Literature with a concentration in Creative Writing and a Folklore minor!
Year: Sophomore
Hometown: Eden, North Carolina. If you know where Greensboro, NC is, go 45 minutes north, right to the Virginia border, and you’ll find me!
Favorite Color: Purple or black. I really just enjoy dark, deep, rich colors.
Dream Occupation: I would love to be a novelist and bookstore owner. It would be a quaint bookstore in a quiet town, but it would be the hub for creative projects. Oh, and I wouldn’t be working far from home; I would live above my bookstore with my husband and several cats. (The cats also double as reading companions for the patrons.)
Favorite Book: Hard to say…but my all-time favorite would have to be Artemis Fowl. The whole series is fantastic, and I fell in love with the characters.
Any Quirky Habits? I enjoy collecting fortunes from fortune cookies and mirrored sunglasses. The fortunes are really neat to keep in a jar for 1) aesthetic purposes and 2) to grab one when you need a few positive words to boost spirits. The sunglasses are just a random habit I developed after I broke my first pair of mirrored sunglasses and couldn’t find any that matched its opacity. I’ve bought countless pairs of glasses that look very similar, but none of them are as good as my first. It has truly been some dark times, pun intended.
How did you get involved with Her Campus? Funnily enough, I joined Her Campus because I was having a bad bout of FOMO. Everyone else was getting plugged into clubs and organizations that furthered their professional careers, and I felt like I couldn’t find anything that fit with my interest in writing. Lo and behold, the English department sent out an advertisement for Her Campus, and I took it as a sign that this was something with which I needed to get involved. I have loved every minute of being part of Her Campus at Chapel Hill, and when I was presented the opportunity to move up in the chapter, I readily took it. So here we are!
What else are you a part of at UNC-Chapel Hill? I am on the executive board for the Pacific Islander Student Association, an organization focused on being a beacon for PI students searching for their community, as well as educating non-PI students about our culture. It’s been great since I am half PI but haven’t been able to explore that side of my identity. I’m also an RA in a First-Year community. That has been a new experience for me but has helped me build confidence in being a leader.
That’s just a little bit about me! I’m looking forward to being involved with Her Campus again this semester and being able to expand the Chapter from the inside out.