Welcome back, collegiettes™! My name is Cara Chiaramonte, and I’m the Campus Correspondent of Her Campus UFL, Gainesville’s local Her Campus chapter. I have to admit that writing this is a little bittersweet because I’m graduating at the end of this semester, and Her Campus has quite literally changed my life. But for those of you who haven’t been #blessed with the opportunity of knowing what Her Campus is, here’s a quick rundown of who we are and what we’re all about:
Her Campus is the No. 1 community for college women, both online and offline. Everything is written by the top college journalists — 4,000+ contributors and counting! — and features content on everything from style and health to love, life and career. That national content is supplemented by 240+ campus chapters around the world (that’s us!). But what’s a collegiette™you ask?
A collegiette™ is a college woman who is on top of her game, strategically career-minded, distinctly fashionable, socially connected, academically driven and smartly health-conscious. A collegiette™ is a college woman who endeavors to get the most out of her college experience on every level. In short, a collegiette™ is you.
Last year was very exciting for our team, and it’s all thanks to your support! We increased our readership by more than 1,000 percent; we published new content almost every day; we hosted our first Love Your Body Day with UF’s VS PINK Street Team; we launched our chapter’s official YouTube channel; we’ve grown our staff from about 20 to almost 70 *amazingly* talented young women; and, best, if not most exciting of all, our chapter was awarded a Pink chapter level, the highest level of recognition from HC National. Oh, and Aaron Carter followed us on Twitter when we gave away tickets to his Gainesville concert in October 2013, so there’s that.
Needless to say we have a lot to celebrate this semester, and we want to celebrate with all of you! That’s why we’ve deemed this semester ‘Pretty in Pink’! It might just be more exciting than Blaine telling Andie he loves her at the prom in the movie! Each day we’ll bring you fresh, exciting content. From the do’s and don’ts of Midtown fashion to your weekly dose of Campus Cutie, we’ve got you covered. We’ll also be hosting some awesome events, contests and giveaways on campus for you and your friends!
Be sure to follow HC UFL on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube and our new Tumblr for all the deets!
Although we are no longer accepting applications for Fall, there are plenty of ways to get involved with our team. You can sign up for our weekly newsletter to get first dibs on our fun events and giveaways (Sometimes we even send out surveys to get your opinion on what we should feature on our site)! You can also nominate a friend for Campus Cutie or Campus Celebrity or let us help you drive attendance to an upcoming event by submitting the event information for our monthly calendar!
With that said, I wish you a happy first day back if you’re a returning collegiette™ and a very warm welcome to the Gator Nation if you’re a Baby Gator! You’re about to have the best four years of your life, and I hope you take HC UFL along for the ride!
HCXO,
Cara