I had the pleasure of interviewing Andrea Capllonch, Editor in Chief of HerCampus and fourth year student at the University of Puerto Rico. Andrea has lived in Puerto Rico her whole life, but loves to travel, especially to Miami. She joined HerCampus as a writer her sophomore year, after she found out about the organization from her local bookstore, one that she values highly and has recently become her place of work. She became a Junior Editor for HerCampus during her junior year, and towards the end of that year, she became the Editor in Chief. Besides HerCampus, she is also involved with the chamber orchestra and American Marketing Association at her university!
Andrea is an amazing individual, who has accomplished so much. She majors in Marketing and Journalism at the University of Puerto Rico, with writing being one of her main passions in life. She truly loves being at school and studying, which is something the both of us share in common, which added to this interview experience for us. Andrea also plays the violin, which she started to play at age five, and recently played as a freelance violinist for events! Her love of fashion and creativity has drawn her to doing fashion styling for music videos- including styling dancers and models for a Ricky Martin video! Another fun fact about Andrea- she is a twin, and her twin is also part of HerCampus!
Being part of HerCampus has provided her the freedom to express herself and write about whatever she chooses. The club has given her the chance to learn more about herself, which means a lot to her. She recognizes her team as being very supportive and hardworking, which is crucial to the success of the club. She also recognizes how important hard work is, which is something she always keeps in her mind when she is doing work for the club. An interesting fact about this chapter is that there are two males involved. Andrea sees this as a huge plus, and thinks that it makes their chapter stronger. The University of Puerto Rico has thirty members, so learning about how her club runs was very interesting to me, as HerCampus Lasell has approximately fourteen members. Since the chapter is so large, she requires each member to write two articles a month. This keeps them on track and lets them have enough articles to publish each month.
As the Editor in Chief, Andrea truly loves her role. She thinks it is great to see what writers come up with, and she loves to cheer them on and communicate with them. When editing their articles, she wants to make sure they feel appreciated, so she will include personalized messages after editing, and again when the article is published. The club has truly prepared her for the future, and through doing this role, she can truly see herself as an editor in the future. She described the club as a sisterhood, and mentioned how great it was for club members to have a safe space to talk about things that matter.
Her chapter also does many different things to keep members involved and having fun. They recently threw an eighth birthday party for the anniversary of HerCampus starting at their school. The chapter threw a scavenger hunt, and it was a great way to get members and fellow classmates involved. They also have virtual game nights and Netflix parties. Recently, a strike began in Puerto Rico, and it has left campuses shut down and there are no classes on campus. Due to this, these virtual activities have allowed the organization to stay connected through this time. They also have Zoom conferences to discuss what is going on, and to try to lift everyone’s spirits.
Throughout the interview, it was so clear to see Andrea’s passion for HerCampus. She truly loves being a leader of the chapter, and getting to work with all of the club members. Towards the end of our interview, Andrea made a statement that was truly powerful, “I love being part of something so big, coming from a place that is so small.” This spoke volumes to me. I, also coming from a small town in a very small state, could understand what she meant. Being able to provide meaningful content to a whole world of people is so powerful, and through Andrea’s hardwork in her position, she is able to share the work of HerCampus at the University of Puerto Rico with the world.