My first love was writing. I had always been someone who felt more comfortable hiding behind the ink and pen. That was always something that was different about me that I didn’t see often within other people throughout my life. When I came to college, I thought that it would be the same, but I am very happy to say that I was wrong.
Freshman year, my friend discovered a pink clad table at the Fall Involvement Fair that proudly pronounced the club; Her Campus CU Boulder: Journalism for College Students by College Students. My ears immediately perked up at this because despite majoring in and preferring creative writing, I had dabbled in journalistic writing when I was an intern at the Aurora Public Schools Communications Department my senior year of high school. My friend joined immediately, but I did not due to the fact that I had made plans to study abroad that following spring semester and didn’t think that it would be a good idea to commit to something like that before leaving the country. Now I know that I should’ve joined right away and that I wouldn’t have been punished by the club for going abroad, but I am proud to say that I filled out the application as soon as I could that following fall semester. Her Campus CU Boulder, or HCCU, welcomed me with open arms and from that very first meeting, I knew that it was going to become something special in my life.
I am very proud of a lot of the things and experiences I have done during my time in undergrad, but I think I am most proud of what I’ve done with HCCU. Five semesters, a senior exec position, dozens of events planned and attended, hundreds of hours spent focusing on HCCU, too many friends made to count, and countless articles about a plethora of topics written, I look back at my time with this club with a heart filled with joy. This club gave me something that doesn’t have a price-tag — a space where I can write about whatever I want to write about and be surrounded by like-minded women who have similar goals and interests as me.
These women, both the ones that have already graduated and the ones that have recently joined this semester, have had such an impact on my life. Through their own different outlooks on life, experiences, and the support that they have given me, I truly believe that I have found my people in the sea of confusion that is college. Some of my most precious memories that I have from my time in undergrad have been HCCU events. Friendsgiving and Galentines have been my favorites –– especially since they always gave me the opportunity to express my love for these girls and this club through cooking, which has always been one of my love languages. One of my fondest memories was when I was broken up with a day before Friendsgiving and the love that I was given by these gorgeous women was truly the light in the clouds of darkness I was feeling that day. That is what this club is truly about at its core –– women supporting each other in every aspect of life.
Of course, another very special part of this club to me has been stepping up and being the social media director for HCCU this past semester. I always knew that I wanted to be more involved in the club, and I found that opportunity through joining the social team. Again, I was welcomed with open arms and I discovered another part of myself through the creativity I was allowed with Instagram and TikTok posts. The social media director when I joined, Julia, told me from the beginning of my time as a social media assistant that she knew that I would be a good director and that she hoped I would succeed her eventually. These were very large shoes to fill and I felt like at times I wasn’t good enough for the job, but I am very proud of the work that I’ve been able to do with my time as director. At times, I felt overwhelmed with the work it was, but it was always worth it whenever people complimented me on how the club’s Instagram looked or when a TikTok reached a certain level of engagement. But most of all, I’ve enjoyed the responsibility it gave me to be an important part of this incredible club, forever cemented for the years to come.
These past few years, HCCU has felt like home. Not as a physical house or building, but instead as the heart of my time at CU. I cannot believe that the journey is already coming to an end, but I know that this club is in safe hands with all the amazing women that have also made it their home. I will forever be grateful for the opportunities this club has given me and for the people it has put into my life. I learned so much about myself through HCCU and I have no clue who I would be if my friend never stumbled upon that pink tablecloth clad table at the Involvement Fair. Thank you HCCU, you will forever hold a very special place in my heart.