Name: Valerie Chicola
Year: Senior
Hometown: I grew up a Foreign Service brat, so that’s always been a tough question. I was born in El Salvador, went to high school in Vancouver, and now my family lives in Florida… so I guess I have hometowns all over the place.
Major: International Affairs, Editing, Writing & Media
Relationship status: In a relationship
Her Campus (HC): Simple questions first, what are you involved with on campus?
Valerie Chicola (VC): Last year I served as the Public Relations Chair for the FSU College Republicans and the year before that I sang in an a cappella group. I’ve recently started helping out with the Seminole Coalition against Student Censorship whose main goal is to abolish the unconstitutional “free speech zones” that have been arbitrarily placed around campus. My boyfriend actually spearheaded this initiative during the summer and I’ve jumped on board since coming home in November.
HC: You spent this fall semester in Texas working on a campaign. How was that experience?
VC: The campaign life is unlike anything else I’ve experienced. It’s a very high energy job and you have to be willing to make sacrifices for it, but I was working for someone I really believed in. He’s a former CIA agent with a cyber security background. He’s young, capable, intelligent, and he totally breaks the mold of your stereotypical career politician. He deserved to win, and he did — even though we got outspent 2:1. It’s easy to get cynical about the political process, but this experience was really reinvigorating.
HC: What is the most thrilling aspect of working a campaign?
VC: I don’t think anything can compare to the anxiety of Election Night. It’s thrilling, but also nerve-wracking because you know that you’ve now done everything that can be done. At that point, you just have to sit back and watch the results come in. You also have to be on your guard 24/7. Everything you say and do — no matter how silly or inconsequential — can be used by the opposing camp to put a hit on you.
HC: That sounds amazing. What would you say is your ideal career?
VC: I see myself working in the communications department for a non-profit somewhere in D.C., or alternately joining the Foreign Service as a public affairs officer. I loved living abroad, and I hope that whatever career I choose will allow me to do that again.
HC: Since graduation is looming in the distance, do you have a graduation bucket list?
VC: I guess this is more of a “Tallahassee Bucket List,” but I really want to travel to as many places as possible that are within driving distance. Everyone always complains that FSU is located in Tallahassee, but one upside is that you can hop in your car and head to any number of southern cities. I’ve driven to Miami, Atlanta, Tampa, New Orleans, Memphis, Charleston, Savannah… they’re all so beautiful in their own way and there is still so much out there that I want to see.
HC: Any post-grad plans?
VC: If my timeline works out as planned, I’ll be graduating just as the 2016 primary campaigns are really gearing up. I think I’d like to work the next presidential, but I haven’t closed myself off to any opportunities just yet.