It’s not hard to believe that great things come from small places. Saint Michael’s College is a small, liberal arts college set in the most urban setting in the state of Vermont. Within the college community, Alex Brenock and Lauren Mazzoleni decided to start the campus’s own branch of an online magazine, which has reached national acclaim amongst numerous colleges and universities throughout the country. What a better Campus Celebrity, or Celebrities, in this case, to write about than the two founders of SMCVT’s Her Campus branch? These two young women have taken on a big task, with the goal in mind to reach out to not only their own college campus, but to Burlington and beyond.
What are your majors here at SMC? What do you do in your spare time?
Alex: I’m a business major. In my spare time I like to go into Burlington or see a movie with my friend.
Lauren: I’m a Media Studies, Digital Arts, and Journalism major with a double minor in Psychology and Creative Writing. In my spare time, I hang out with my friends. Hanging out with my friends can involve anything from watching our favorite shows and movies, shopping, and going on spontaneous adventures. When I’m not hanging out with my friends, I’m most likely still watching my favorite shows (hence my DVR always being full), listening to music, or reading.
Why did you want to start your own HerCampus branch?
Alex: First and foremost I just thought it’d be fun! I think it’s a creative way to add to the Saint Mike’s community and to share our love of SMC. It’s also a great opportunity for students to write for an online magazine; writing for HerCampus is a good resume booster and I’m excited to bring that to students at Saint Mike’s.
Lauren: I wasn’t familiar with Her Campus until Alex came to me with the idea of starting a branch. I looked into it more and I was highly impressed with the overall magazine. I was especially impressed with how Her Campus was linked with some top named companies like MTV, Huffington Post, and Seventeen Magazine. I thought that starting a branch would be a fun and rewarding experience, and that’s exactly what it’s been so far. I’m really honored that Alex wanted to take on this project with me and I’m proud of everything that our whole entire staff has done.
What do you think the SMC community will gain out of it?
Alex: It’s fun! It’s a great way to add to our existing community at Saint Mike’s and we also have informative and helpful articles.
Lauren: While it is a chapter written by SMC students, the community will be able to gain a perspective on things other than SMC. We have articles that revolve around events on campus, but we also have other articles that provide readers advice on love, career, and fashion. I kind of see Her Campus like one of those magazines that catches your attention in the check out aisle. You see a catchy headline that applies to you and you immediately put it in your cart. I hope that our readers feel like that when they see read our content and know that they can always request certain ideas to our site.
What are your goals for the SMC HerCampus branch?
Alex: Just to keep up the good work, to keep growing, and to gain some recognition around campus. Even though we have a consistent number of monthly readers, there are a lot of people on campus that haven’t heard of us yet. I want that to change!
Lauren: I want to continue to get the word out about the SMC branch through social media and hopefully host events around campus or around the Burlington area. I also hope to continue to build our staff. We already have an amazing staff full of writers and photographers, but it’s always great to have more people. I want to make sure that the SMCVT branch continues after Alex and I graduate because I think it’s a good thing for people to be involved in, especially for those who love writing and taking pictures.
What’s something you’ve learned about yourself since coming to college?
Alex: I’ve learned that I love to be challenged. I so enjoy running HerCampus, but it has been challenging in that we had to start the magazine, recruit staff members, and to just find the time to devote to it. Some of my favorite classes at Saint Mike’s have been challenging ones and I enjoy working hard. It was surprising to learn that, for me, the easiest road isn’t necessarily the most fun.
Lauren: Before coming into college, I thought that that the phrase “college is where you find yourself” was cliche, but it’s true. I’ve developed a better sense of what I want out of my life and therefore, I’ve learned to stress less. I was originally a Psychology major, but I changed to a MJD major once I learned I was interested more in writing. I may not know exactly what my calling is, but I have a better idea about my future than I did before coming to college.
What are some of your own goals for the future?
Alex: At this point they’re kind of vague, but I know that I want to work in either business or politics. Right now I’m looking for summer internships, I want to study abroad in Ireland, and I’m considering grad school. Beyond that, I have no idea!
Lauren: After college, I plan on going to grad school. I’m interested in marketing and television, so where I go depends on what I decide to pursue. I’m fascinated by the behind the scene aspects like scriptwriting and producing. If I wanted to take that route, I would love to go to Emerson College for that.
What are some favorite college memories so far?
Alex: My all time favorite was this year after a huge storm. There was a lake of a puddle outside of my dorm and all my friends jumped in the puddle and got soaked. We were freezing but it was so sporadic & fun!
Lauren: There’s a lot of great memories I’ve made so far, but there are three that will stick with me for a long time. The first two were during orientation week. The first memory was on the day that Hurricane Irene hit Vermont. It was raining like crazy and there was no way I was going to go outside, especially since I forgot to bring my raincoat and rain boots to school. I was hanging out in the lounge with some people on my floor. We were playing card games and introducing ourselves. This was the second day of orientation, so I was pretty excited to be meeting new people. It’s how I met some of my best friends.
The other memory was the third or fourth day into orientation week and I was eating dinner with some of the friends I made. We were given free tickets to the Essex Junction Valley Fair by some upperclassman, and we decided to give our extra tickets to people nearby us. Since we were still new to school, we had no idea that there were shuttles driving back and forth to the fair, so we decided to walk there. After walking twenty minutes, we got there and it immediately started down pouring. Our time at the fair itself was pretty short, but we walked back together in the pouring rain. It’s still a memory that comes up in conversations with my friends. The third memory was the day my friend, Brendan, asked me to do a radio show with him. It was the second week of school and at that point, I just wanted to join everything and meet everyone. I never thought I would be a DJ out of all things, but it’s been a tradition of ours ever since freshmen year.
What’s one piece of advice you live by?
Alex: I just like being happy so I look for the positives in life.
Lauren: My freshmen year of high school I read a book called The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch.There were a lot of memorable quotes in the book, but one in particular stood out to me the most, “We cannot change the cards we were dealt, just how we play the hand.” We could have something unexpectedly bad happen to us, but we decide if we want to try to make it better. I make sure to apply that to my life when things might not be going my way.