I had a very rough start with college. I remember being so excited to get out of my hometown and start living more independently. I had a lot of high expectations for my college experience and well, those expectations simply were not met. At all.
I had a lot of trouble making new friends, and figuring out where exactly I fit in. I felt very alone in a sea of strangers. I was surrounded by people who had already found their friend groups, and it didn’t feel like there was any room for me. Oswego wasn’t home in the beginning and there was a time where I genuinely considered transferring somewhere else.
Ultimately I decided to stick things out. While I didn’t have many friends, I knew that I had chosen Oswego for a reason. They had a great business school and a fantastic creative writing program, and I was there to get an education.
Freshman year sucked, but things get better during sophomore year. Specifically, I got more involved.
Clubs felt like something all of my professors were trying to push on us. I looked into joining some, but I couldn’t find any that seemed worthwhile for me, or that even piqued my interest. Finally, after all the lectures about their importance, I decided that maybe they were worth giving a shot.
The second semester of my freshman year I had half-heartedly joined a club on campus called Women in Business. It seemed like a good option, after all I myself was a woman with a business major. Unfortunately, I was still pretty naive at the time and didn’t see the true value in the club at that point.
The second semester of my sophomore year I decided that I needed to give Women in Business a fair chance, and stick with it. (Spoiler alert: it all worked out really well because I ended up becoming the Vice President of the club after that semester… and now I’m the current President.)
I ended up meeting a member of Women in Business who told me about Her Campus, and that is where things started to really turn around for me.
I emailed the CC Katie and she got back to me very quickly with information about the next meeting. I was so nervous, but Her Campus sounded too good to be true, and I had to know more. I showed up at the meeting and everyone was so kind and welcoming. Suddenly, I felt like I had found my place.
Her Campus helped to give me the confidence that was buried inside me. I felt braver than ever and encouraged to put myself out there. I had people to say “Hi!” to when I passed them around campus. I had a platform where I could write about anything I wanted, and a place to share all my thoughts and ideas. Having my work published where anyone could read it was huge for me!
I was finally coming out of my shell.
I took Women in Business more seriously because Her Campus taught me that clubs could be fun. I made going to Women in Business meetings fun for myself and tried harder to engage with and get to know the other members. I got to know the e-board members of that club better too, so much so that they wanted me to be on the e-board the following semester when positions started opening up. When I was a freshman, I wouldn’t have believed you if you told me I was going to end up in a leadership position with a club on campus.
I didn’t think things could get any better than that, but they did.
I have become so much more involved in the club since joining initially. Not only am I a staff writer, but I have been a section editor since Fall 2017, and this semester I had the opportunity to manage the Instagram. I’ve been having so much fun with it all and it’s even better knowing that these are skills I’ll be able to put on my resume.
It’s my final semester in college, and it has been one of the best yet. The main reason is that of my Her Campus girl gang. For the first time since high school, I have found myself apart of an amazing and supportive group of women.
The best part is that we’re all so similar in so many different ways. I don’t think I’ve ever related to a group of girls more. I feel so comfortable around them, and I’m never afraid to be myself.
I miss them when we’re apart, and I always look forward to seeing them at meetings, and when we plan to hang out. I am so happy and blessed to have finally found my people.
I never expected to have gotten so close with the members of Her Campus, but I have, and I could not be more thankful. It’s going to be so hard to leave them when I graduate, and I know I am going to miss them all so much. They have truly helped me to make Oswego feel like home.