Dear Her Campus at Michigan State University (HCMSU),
I was lost before I found this club. Like truly lost.
My entire first year of college was online. Then I came to East Lansing my sophomore year, and things didn’t get easier. The after effects of the pandemic rocked campus, and as someone who has never been amazing at making friends, I struggled not only with moving away for the first time, but also with finding my place at Michigan State University (MSU).
I joined clubs during my first fall on campus. It’s nothing against them whatsoever, but no matter what I joined, I didn’t feel like I really belonged there. Call it imposter syndrome, call it not knowing how to make new friends – that’s beside the point. The point is that I spent the first three semesters of college without making any real friends, and I was pretty lonely.
My “recruitment” story for HCMSU is different from most because I wasn’t really recruited. Someone in one of my classes mentioned it as a way to publish articles and build a portfolio. I joined, not thinking it was anything more than a place to submit articles. I had no clue it was a club. I had no clue it was a community.
Needless to say, the first meeting I attended shocked me. Writing was a part of it, yes, but it was so much more than that. Learning about events, workshops, etc. illuminated this to start, but the real thing I took from the first meeting was the way I felt there. I’m naturally quite shy, so I didn’t show up ready to start conversations with a bunch of new people. And yet people introduced themselves to me and talked to me. I felt like the people I met actually wanted to know me and weren’t being nice just out of obligation. I came back the next time and those people remembered my name. They invited me to sit with them. They cared.
This wasn’t like any student organization I had been a part of, and I knew right then and there that I wanted to be involved in whatever made this place so special.
During my first semester in HCMSU, I wrote a lot of articles – I mean, that’s why I joined in the first place. I didn’t attend events or stay after for activities or do more than the writing part because honestly, I was still nervous. This was somewhere I wanted to be, but it was new. By the end of the semester, I knew the names of most of the people who attended regular meetings – even if they didn’t all remember me – and I applied to be on the editing team for the next year. Joining e-board was the second best decision I made in the club (with the first being my joining it to begin with).
Being on e-board changed everything. I met so many new people and started to form relationships with other members. At the same time, I recruited two of my other friends from campus to join as well. All of the sudden, I had friends and they were all in one place. I started being more involved that fall semester, which marked the beginning of my junior year. I was one of the original members of the newly formed book club (which has become one of my favorite aspects of HCMSU), and I helped with things outside of my comfort zone (namely recruitment).
My junior year was super influenced by HCMSU. I made great friends, I had fun experiences, and I got to contribute to the atmosphere that had drawn me in in the first place. If I talked about everything from that year, this would become a book rather than a letter, so let’s put it like this: HCMSU reframed and remade my college experience.
Saying goodbye to my senior friends last spring was sad, but I think it was even sadder knowing that my turn was coming soon. Knowing that my meetings, events, and experiences were numbered, I’ve made this fall semester count. I’ve helped with the creation of a new position, Senior Editor, and in doing so, I hope I can leave some sort of legacy that influences the editing team and the atmosphere of the club. It’s my hope that I’ve given something back to this club that has given so much to me.
Because here we are, my last semester at MSU and my last article with Her Campus. Here we are at the end of the line, after four semesters in HCMSU. Here I am, saying goodbye to the people and experiences that transformed more than just my college experience, but also me as a person. From book club to e-board to the editing team to the chapter as a whole, I’ve gotten to be part of something bigger than myself, and it’s my hope that others joining HCMSU feel the same way.
I feel like “thank you” doesn’t cover it. I found HCMSU when I needed it most, and it gave me a place where I felt like I belonged. I joined to build my portfolio but stayed because of the people. Now I’m leaving, taking with me the fondest of memories and the best of friends.
To my family at HCMSU, thank you for everything. I’ll miss this more than anything else at MSU. I love you all and wish you the very best!
HCXO,
Katie