The first couple of weeks of college can be difficult — between the involvement fair, auditions for improv and a capella, and adjusting to classes, it can be difficult to determine your niche on campus and what activities you want to pursue and prioritize. With so many options of clubs and organizations, it can be overwhelming to decide what you want to get involved in, so here is our case for why you should join Her Campus Conn Coll.
But before we get into the reasons, let’s back up a bit: what even is Her Campus? Well, Her Campus is an online magazine and the #1 media site for college women. Headquartered in Boston, Her Campus publishes articles at the national level, i.e. written by HC editors and college journalists who are not necessarily associated with a college chapter. Her Campus is also made up of college chapters that pitch, write, edit, and publish their own articles and post social media content on their own page of the Her Campus site and their own social channels.
The Connecticut College chapter hosts casual meetings once a week where we pitch article ideas, but more importantly, build community. You don’t need to attend every — or even any — weekly meeting in order to write articles and stay involved, so long as you communicate with our Senior Editor regarding pitches and contribute a minimum of two articles per semester.
1. You can write about whatever you want
While we do brainstorm article ideas as a club, and our Senior Editor will offer pitch ideas, at Her Campus Conn, you are free to write articles on the topic of your choice — no article pitch will get rejected. That TV show you thought was overhyped? Your essential dorm snacks? A personal narrative? All fair game. Her Campus articles should generally fall under the following sections: Culture, Beauty, Style, Wellness, Money + Career, Lifestyle, and Decor. So there’s a lot to write about! And the section categories are pretty broad as well. Personal narrative-style articles also tend to do well, so if there is a story you want to share, we welcome it! Her Campus is a great avenue for self-expression.
2. You can write at your own pace
As a club, we are required by Her Campus national to publish five articles a week, with a deadline of midnight EST on Saturdays. While we ask that you contribute two articles per semester to stay an active member of Her Campus Conn, you are welcome to write those two articles at any time. We never hold anyone to strict article deadlines nor assign members specific weeks to contribute. If you need more than a week to write your article, that’s totally fine! We want members to write articles they are proud of, no matter when they get published or how long they take.
3. You will have a digital portfolio
All of your articles will be published under your name (unless you want to contribute an article anonymously) and uploaded to the Her Campus website, for your friends, family, and other HC chapter members to read! You will make an author profile that can essentially be used as a digital portfolio. You can include it on your LinkedIn profile or Instagram bio, or even send a link to one of your articles as a writing sample if a potential employer asks for it.
4. You will have impressive experience to add to your resume
Writing for Her Campus will obviously allow you to gain relevant experience if you are looking for a career in journalism or publishing. Employers in any industry will look for strong written communication skills, and writing for Her Campus is a great way to demonstrate that. With Her Campus being online, you’ll also learn how to write for digital platforms specifically. This skill will be useful if you want to pursue a career in marketing, PR, or social media. Writing for Her Campus can help you build skills relevant to email marketing, Instagram captions, and website copy. All of this segues perfectly into our next point…
5. You will improve your writing skills
This one is pretty self-explanatory. You’ll have the opportunity to practice your writing skills in a low-stakes, welcoming environment. While our writers do have a lot of freedom when it comes to writing articles, the Co-Campus Correspondents and Senior Editor are here to help edit your articles and refine your ideas if you ever want feedback!
6. As a national organization, Her Campus offers many other perks
Her Campus national offers summer internships in editorial writing, business development, community management, and marketing, as well as the opportunity to become a National Writer, where you pitch and write monthly articles on the national level. As a writer for Her Campus, you will also have the opportunity to apply for Campus Trendsetters, where you can apply to receive free products and participate in branded campaigns, as well as network with other amazing college women. Writing for our Her Campus chapter is a great way to get connected with a larger, national organization and will allow you to apply for these opportunities!
7. You will get to know a wonderful community of women!
As a pretty small chapter, it’s easy to get to know and bond with everyone involved with Her Campus Conn. We’re a supportive, welcoming community and we love to just hang out and check in with each other at our weekly meetings.
All that said, we hope you consider writing for Her Campus Conn. We welcome new writers of any grade level and at any point in the semester, and we are so excited to read your stories. Our meetings this semester will be on Sunday evenings at 7 PM via Google Hangouts, and we hope to see you there!
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