Being in college, many of us keep ourselves busy. From clubs to academics, it’s a constant juggling act. Julia Furlipa manages to juggle it all. She’s majoring in English Literature and Secondary Education with a minor in Theater. While this sounds intense enough, she also does quite a few other jobs. She’s the Assistant Resident Director of Spellman Hall, one of the Castle Scholar Student Representatives (Currently working on the constitution with the council), an eTern Supervisor for the Center for Teaching and Learning, and the Executive Administrative Assistant for Student Government. Sounds like a lot, right?
Due to how much Julia does, I had to figure out how she balanced everything. “I balance everything by writing a very detailed schedule of all the activities I have to do. I use my phone calendar reminders, and I lucked out on having a day off this semester which I use as a complete homework day.” She added that she does a bunch of Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks runs which at that she laughed because if anyone knows Julia, you know how much she loves her coffee runs.
Julia had to really consider what she wanted to study. Originally, she was starting off as a Dance and Theater major. “I realized I wanted to continue my passion for educating my peers and I felt that English and Theater fell hand and hand with one another. I can use my passion for theater in a future classroom.” She said. This inspired Julia to also go for a master’s degree in higher education in student affairs administration. “I do always want to continue my love for performing on stage and will continue throughout my life.”
While at Manhattanville, Julia has done a total of 6 productions. It was even hard for her to remember them all and to also pick her favorites. “My top 3 favorites out of the 6 were definitely playing Maiane in Tartuffe. I was the young lover. My second favorite was the Vagina Monologues because I got to challenge myself completely in a role that no one expected from me (plus I got to use a whip, ha.), and my final one was challenging myself in Shakespeare. I enjoyed playing the role of Olivia in Twelfth Night. All of them were educational experiences.” She expressed, smiling happily as she remembers all the fond memories she’s shared on stage.
After countless rehearsals, Julia would still have to go back to her room and maintain more responsibilities. For her entire college career, she has been apart of Residence Life on campus. She had been an RA for the last two years and now is the Assistant Resident Director of Spellman Hall. Everyone knows that having a job in Residence Life is not easy and can at times be overwhelming. “The most cliché answer you’ll hear from someone about what they learn from res life is time management skills. It’s definitely true. Having to put on four programs a month, one educational and one social really teaches you to think outside the box. It teaches you to put your residents first. It “forces” you to go out into your community and see what everybody else wants to do.” She said passionately. “In a way, it teaches you to be selfless. I’ve always learned how to deal with various situations and how to approach residents in a professional manner while maintaining professionalism.” She also added that she has to keep up with the image wherever she goes and represent the school in the way she knows she would want it to be represented. It helps with branding herself in the long run. Of course, like any job there are challenges. “One of my challenges was definitely accommodating 72 residents’ needs and interests and making sure that I was approachable to all of them. I ended up loving having an entire floor of residents, and now overseeing a freshman building is definitely different than working with upperclassmen because freshmen have a different set of challenges than upperclassmen do.” She added.
To handle all of this, there must have been someone in her life that shed some inspiration and encouragement. “My mom is definitely my inspiration because she’s that woman that works 7 days a week, having four different jobs alongside being a mother of three kids, and still has the energy to be able to support all of her kids through every activity, ontop of school.” She explained, smiling. Julia really expressed the positive attitude her mother has and that it helps her remain positive. “If she’s able to do all the jobs does while maintaining this optimistic mindset, then I to would like to do the same.”
All these opportunities are available for anyone to achieve at Manhattanville thanks to all the ways to get involved, but you learn much more than that. “Being apart of these activities taught me how to be a leader in various aspects, from accommodating different groups of people, learning how to manage these activities and working with multiple departments on campus has given me character. I can apply all the skills I’ve learned from Manhattanville to my future job(s).” She explained. To sum this all up, seniors always get the question of where they see themselves in five years or what is next? At this, Julia laughed as she really took a moment to think about it. “Done with graduate school, having a job that I love and enjoy, and traveling the world with a potential male suitor.” She laughed that familiar unique Julia laugh. It was obvious then that her positivity, dedication, and passion for what she does will go continue to bring great adventures into her life.