Christina Guy is the president of Her Campus at Pace. She is an adolescent history education major and is minoring in anthropology/sociology. On top of that, she is the student teacher for my introduction to University class. Since I am also majoring in adolescent education, it was an incredible experience to shadow someone with similar interests to my own. It was fascinating to see the processes of running a Her Campus chapter while balancing classes, especially during finals season. From my experience, Christina has been a stand-up, engaging, and thoughtful role model for both her freshmen students and the members of Her Campus at Pace. Having the opportunity to spend a few days with her and better understand what her work entails was both inspiring and eye-opening.
The first experience I had shadowing Christina was when I was allowed to join an executive board meeting for Her Campus at Pace. In this meeting, the e-board members discussed multiple event ideas, where various factors such as time and budgeting impacted the outcome. There was a lot of thought put into the planned events, given the entire e-board wanted to allow the members to join. These events were then announced at the next meeting, and though I would’ve heard about them in due time, it was pretty cool being present for the planning of them.
Shortly after the e-board meeting, I spent time with Christina while she planned for the next Her Campus at Pace weekly meeting. Though there was a lot to be done for the final meeting, she was incredibly organized and was able to graciously get everything done before I had to leave for my class. An example was when she showed me how she created weekly slides to be presented at the Her Campus at Pace meetings. This week she focused on information regarding Her Holidays, a raffle organized by the e-board. She then explained the club’s budgeting system as she coordinated the days for the prizes in the giveaway. The process for getting approved for spending included a lot of math along with explanations as to how the money is directly being used. I learned that the budget is split into categories, which are used for different things regarding the club. Christina also took some time designing custom stoles for the graduating members. Lastly, I was educated on the constitution of Her Campus at Pace. Christina went through the categories of this constitution, explaining how and why they needed to be updated. I learned more about the roles of each position of Her Campus at Pace and walked away from the experience with a lot more information about the club that I’m a part of.
Lastly, Christina had emailed her education class professor, asking if I could spend some time in the class with her. Her professor was kind enough to agree, and I could experience what my future classes within my major would look like. That particular day’s discussion had to do with accommodations. There was a group activity assessing appropriate accommodations for different age levels, which I could participate in. Though I have not yet reached that level in my education, I had a great time interacting with other students that I share a major with in that setting. Christina made sure to make me feel comfortable in that new environment, and I felt more than excited to have a look into what awaits me in the next few years.
Overall, I would describe my time shadowing Christina as both interesting and enlightening. I felt as though I understood the bigger picture of the things I am a part of, as well as simply being an active member of Her Campus at Pace. I look forward to working with Christina more, as she has been nothing short of incredible. Hopefully I will have more opportunities in the future to engage with the coordinators of Her Campus at Pace being that considering I thoroughly enjoyed being able to experience and write about it.