(Image courtesy of www.fluentu.com)
In an interview this past week, I was asked why I decided to join Her Campus (HC) Williams and focus my efforts and writing on a publication that was relatively unknown on-campus and directed towards a specific population. This simple question turned out to be surprisingly difficult for me to answer in a sophisticated way. I never gave much thought to circulation or target audience.
The short story is that Her Campus and I found one another in one of those happy accidents we all experience from time to time. During my sophomore year, I heard about HC Williams from a friend-of-a-friend, who also happened to have founded the Williams’ chapter. I welcomed the opportunity to get involved, as Her Campus offered a new outlet for my writing and a way to become more engaged with on-campus activities. Three years, and many articles later, I’ve been fortunate enough to become co-Campus Correspondent of the Williams chapter and an advocate for expanding the presence of HC at the college.
Truth be told, there is a longer, more complicated version of my HC story. I found Her Campus at a crucial moment in my college career. After writing for The Record, Williams’ student-run newspaper, in my freshman year, I found myself disillusioned with campus journalism, the bureaucracy and oversight of student publications, and the lack of flexibility at the paper stifling innovative thinking and free-discourse. Moreover, I could not write what or how I wanted to write even though I was confident other students shared similar concerns – some trivial and others serious –about campus and college life. There just did not seem to be a way for me to express my voice here at William at a time in my college career when it seemed to matter most.
Sophomore year is disorienting in many ways. Stripped from the security of the entry system, and no longer engrossed with the “newness” of college, like many of my peers, I was struggling to find my place academically and socially. When I heard about HC Williams, I was excited about the possibilities that it seemed to offer: the security that comes with a national organization with numerous chapters at other campuses; the flexibility to shape content and focus on the broad array of concerns unique to the Williams’ community; and the potential to reach a segment of the students often overlooked on traditionally male-dominated liberal arts campuses: women. It turns out that my initial instincts were correct: Her Campus provided all of the above, and more.
This summer, I was offered the opportunity to attend a two-day HC national conference held in New York City – called, of course, Her Conference. Her Campus held a social-media competition in conjunction with their sponsors, Intel and Amtrak that allowed me to travel to New York City for free of charge with other HC members from across the country! The conference included panels on different publishing and communications topics such as PR, marketing, editorial internships, freelance writing, and blogging; there were also panels and addresses by influential women from a variety of different professions: Michelle Tan, Editor-in-Chief of Seventeen, Terri McCullough of the Clinton Foundation’s No Ceilings Project, and Neha Ghandi VP of Editorial Strategy at Refinery 29. What became clear to me over the weekend was that HC is more than just a blog – it is an expansive support network and resource for professional women, especially those in and pursuing careers in the media, marketing, communications, and journalism. HC is committed to expanding its reach and its network into other fields, many of which have long been the province of men. Bottom line is HC is about giving women in college a voice, a hand, and an ax to take aim at that glass ceiling.
Today, the focus of HC is on building and sustaining a powerful network in the media that ensures the interests of women will receive the attention they warrant. . Her Campus’ college chapters are a critical component of that network and one that provides a place and a space for women to start to reclaim the narrative on their campuses. The national organization provides opportunities for advancement and leadership, through internships and a strong alumni network. For all these reasons and more, you should join our Her Campus Williams team. We are anxious to hear what you have to say!