Name: Caitlin Taylor
Year: Sophomore
Major: Journalism
Minor(s): French and Women’s Studies
Hometown: Carleton, MI – a small town halfway between Detroit and Toledo, OH
How did you get involved with Her Campus? At the end of last fall semester, I connected with Amber about the possibility of working with her as co-EIC for this semester. After an interview and several emails back-and-forth, I was lucky enough to join the Her Campus-MSU team. She has been training me ever since.
What made you want to get involved with Her Campus-MSU? Ever since I became a Sexual Assault and Relationship Violence Peer Educator on campus, I got really into feminism. I always considered myself a feminist, but not quite like I do now; I really started to learn the ins-and-outs of gender equality. With that said, I began taking Women’s Studies courses, declared it my minor, and decided that women’s reporting, whether that be about feminist politics, women’s lifestyle or even fashion, is my calling. Naturally, Her Campus-MSU was a perfect fit.
What is your dream job in journalism? I am in love with the Huffington Post, especially its Women’s Voices section of the online magazine. It would be a dream to work on that beat. I’m also a fan of the Gay Voices beat, so that would be really cool too. But I am relatively open with the vast amounts of career options out there.
What do you hope to bring to Her Campus-MSU next year? A major goal of mine is to follow in Amber’s footsteps and help our Her Campus chapter to grow. Now that we are officially a registered student organization, I hope to get us involved with more activities on campus and to reach a broader audience of readers. Also, recruitment is going to be really important to me. In helping this organization to grow, having a larger staff of writers will only make us stronger and give us the ability to get more content out for our readers.
What made you want to become a journalist? Since high school, writing had always played a primary role in my life. I took all of the writing classes that I could, and I was always trying to improve my writing. A major driving force, though, in my decision to pursue journalism was joining the yearbook and newspaper staff. In that, we went to a yearbook camp at Michigan State, which was a major reason I was drawn to JRN@MSU. Since, I couldn’t be happier with the decision that I made.
What is something that you love about MSU? The MSU campus is the first major aspect of the university that made me fall in love. I love that campus is one collective unit; one knows when he or she is on campus or not. Not to mention, the collectivity makes it feel like like one big community – which it is! The best part, though, is that no matter how familiar one becomes with campus, there are still so many places left unexplored and so many hidden spots to fall in love with.
What are you involved in on campus besides Her Campus-MSU? Like I mentioned earlier, I am a Sexual Assault and Relationship Violence Peer Educator, which I love. Being a SARV Peer Ed basically means that myself and the rest of the SARV team work together in different workshops throughout the fall and spring semesters to educate freshman and transfer students about sexual assault and relationship violence. We address common myths about sexual assault and relationship violence as well as give statistics and definitions on the issues to make sure that everyone on campus has the same knowledge of risks, myths, resources and more. I am also a beauty staff writer for VIM Magazine – MSU’s fashion, beauty and lifestyle magazine, which I enjoy doing. Plus, I work at the main library as a Catalog Maintenance Assistant in Technical Services. My job basically means that I am the person who prepares new books to be able to go on the shelves, among working on other projects within the library.
How do you pass the time when you are not in school? In addition to working at the MSU main library, I also work at Macy’s in Meridian Mall. I am a sales associate in the Home Department housewares section. I really enjoy working there, but the world of retail is definitely an experience all its own. I also enjoy meals; I loving eating out, ordering in and just trying new tastes whenever I can! But, despite my eagerness to try new restaurants, once I eat there just one time, I will always order the same thing each time I go there again.
What is your guilty pleasure? Truffles! Lindor Truffles by Lindt are my biggest guilty pleasure. But chocolate in general is my weakness as well. I also love Twitter, lazy weekends in bed and spending time with those that I care about most.
Words to live by? I always say, “we’ll figure it out” because I always know that I will be able to get through anything, especially with a little help along the way.