Hello everyone and welcome back to Her Campus!
As we welcome the new semester right after Valentine’s Day, I think it’s important we look ahead at all we can accomplish in the next year. Valentine’s Day, for all that it focuses on love – whether romantic, platonic, familial, or devotional – also asks us to examine the relationships in our lives. It asks us to examine the nostalgic past, to celebrate the gleeful present, and to look forward at the endless future. Not only should we do that for our relationships, but its reflection can apply to our entire lives.
It’s critical that, with all that has happened to us and around us the last year, we reflect on the past, make the most of the present, and look toward the future.
Look at the past, at all we’ve learned about our communities and ourselves by marching through obstacle after obstacle. Last semester, Her Campus wrote articles to inspire lighthearted moments during quarantine, to make lockdown feel less lonely and stifling for us all.
Look at the present, at all the potential in the current moment. Now, HC’s mission is to give womxn the voice they need to inspire other womxn. We want to keep highlighting diverse, marginalized voices in our content, to support the communities who don’t get the representation they deserve.
And look to the future, because that’s the arena from which we can affect change together. We all have so much imagination, creativity, and ability to offer the world, and we can broaden our horizons together, pulling others up with us on our way to success.
On the note of Valentine’s Day, Her Campus understands the importance of the bonds we have with others. Hold fast to each other and the relationships that have bolstered you through adversity. Not to be cliché, but keeping love in your life is necessary for the way forward.
Take care of yourselves. Read our listicles when you need to take your mind off things, read our think–pieces when you want to understand the perspective of other womxn and how they interpret and inspire the world. Let us be here for you.
And if you find comfort or relief or solidarity in our content, our staff, or our publication – that’s the biggest honor we could ever ask for.
Welcome back to HC at UPenn. Let’s have another wonderful semester together, keeping our eyes on the future.