For all the collegiettes graduating in May and more than a little nervous about it, this week’s campus celebrity will reassure you there are great careers waiting after graduation. She may have graduated in May 2011, but she’s left a lasting impression on Oswego State and our own Her Campus.
She’s Samantha Shelton, founder of the Oswego State branch of Her Campus and now editorial assistant at FITNESS magazine in New York City.
If her name sounds familiar, don’t be surprised. During her time in college, you might have seen her posted in the office of The Oswegonian, watched her swipe your ID card with a smile as you walked into the fitness centers, or attended a Colleges Against Cancer event alongside her.
Shelton’s story proves hard work pays off. She combined her two loves of journalism and exercise to earn her dream job. And now, she’s sharing her advice with Oswego collegiettes.
“There are three things students should do,” she says. “Get involved, make contacts and be proactive.”
Shelton started getting involved her freshman year, serving as a writer and later the managing editor for The Oswegonian.
“It sounds so cliché, but you have to get involved,” she says. “Do what is suited to your niche – I knew I wanted to work in health and fitness magazine industry, so all of the writing I had to do I did in that niche.”
Shelton saw an opportunity to broaden the journalism program to include her love of magazines. She founded the SUNY Oswego branch of the magazine networking organization ED2010 along with Her Campus her senior year. She also started the fitness center’s campus newsletter, tailoring her writing to reflect her interests.
But how does an Oswego collegiette go from writing about the fitness centers to writing at FITNESS magazine?
Shelton interned for the magazine twice, the first being the summer before her senior year in 2010.
“I really made sure that I kept in contact with everyone here,” she says. “Once I finished my first internship I made sure to keep in touch with them and constantly talk to people to keep me on their radar.”
Shelton stresses that making contacts was one of the keys to breaking into her dream industry.
“I would randomly come up to the city for the weekend and cold call these people at major magazine companies and ask them if they wanted to meet for coffee,” she says. “They’d always say yes – editors are all about paying it forward and giving back, but they’re so busy you need to be proactive as a student.”
Shelton interned again for FITNESS over the winter break during her senior year, and jumped on the chance to combine networking with her interest in running.
“I was seriously into running and really wanted to run a half marathon,” she says. “I figured I’d run the FITNESS half marathon so I signed up and paid for it out of my own pocket. It was great because I could put in face time with the editors because I was here to run their race.”
Even though she fronted the marathon fee, the opportunity paid off. Even though there were no full-time positions available, FITNESS offered Shelton a position as a freelance assistant after graduation. When an opening became available, Shelton handed in her resume and spoke with the editor-in-chief, who in turn offered her a full-time job at the start of the new year.
“The March issue is the first one with my name in the mast head,” she says. “It’s what you always want, and when I saw that I was just like ‘Ah! I made it!'”
As an editorial assistant, Shelton’s responsibilities change every day.
“Sometimes I’m blogging for The Fit Stop, running to events to learn new products, meeting celebrities who are representing something, trying out a new work out or working on a story,” she says. “Literally every day is different.”
One of Shelton’s most recent blog posts included interviewing celebrity Stacy Keibler as she prepared for the Golden Globes in January.
“It’s not every day you get to meet George Clooney’s girlfriend!” she says. “It’s very fun but also very surreal coming from somewhere like Oswego or my hometown, Oppenheim.”
Although Shelton enjoys channeling her inner Carrie Bradshaw as a journalist living in the big city, she misses life on the lake at SUNY Oswego.
“I miss the atmosphere that is college, especially at Oswego, the people there rock,” she says. “I miss Oswego so much, you have no idea!”
Shelton has few words to make sure Oswego collegiettes live by as they prepare to enter the real world.
“I can’t say it enough,” she says. “Be proactive, talk to people and get involved. Remember hard work pays off and if you pay your dues, it’s going to come – I’m proof.”