Name: Christine Marshall
Hometown: Haskell, NJ
Major: English – Literature, Secondary Education
Year: Senior
Involvement: Co-Founder, Vice President, and Editor-in-Chief of Her Campus WPUNJ
Fun Fact: I’m currently writing and plan to self-publish a science fiction novel!
Besides being one half of the duo that has provided so much life into WPUNJ’s Her Campus chapter, Christine has also given it one of its most unique voices through her one-of-a-kind articles. As an honors senior here at WPUNJ, Christine is busy working on her thesis project, taking her classes, and playing the important role of EIC and VP for our campus chapter. So how exactly does Ms. Marshall do it all so effortlessly? Well, she shared some insight with us, as the woman behind the curtain takes the spotlight as this week’s HCWPUNJ Campus Celebrity.
HC: What is your favorite part of being Editor-in-Chief of HCWPUNJ?
CM: I absolutely love editing. That’s such a dorky thing to say, but I really do. The team of writers I’m working with are absolutely fantastic, too. They’ve got some of the greatest ideas for content. And being Editor-in-Chief means that I get to read it all before anybody else!
HC: It’s no secret you have a deep love for comics. What is your favorite comic of all time and why?
CM: No secret at all! I love writing about comics in the Geek Speak section for Her Campus; they’re my favorite articles to write! I like to think I make my nerdiness abundantly clear. As for picking a favorite, that’s such a hard question! Right now, I think I can only narrow it down to a three-way tie: Captain Marvel by my writing hero, Kelly Sue Deconnick; Pretty Deadly also by Kelly Sue; and Hawkeye by Matt Fraction (who just so happens to be married to Kelly Sue).
I like Hawkeye because Fraction writes it in a way that focuses more on the character than the heroics; it’s always a fun read. Pretty Deadly is a cool Spaghetti Western folktale-type story about the daughter of Death. I’m not normally into that type of thing, but it’s narrated by a butterfly and a rabbit skeleton! That might sound silly, but Kelly Sue pulls it off so well. And as for Captain Marvel, she is my favorite Marvel character – actually, my favorite superhero. She’s a symbol of a strong woman, a feminist, a role model. She’s had such a positive influence on the comics fandom (her fans are formally known as the Carol Corps), and Kelly Sue just really gets the character. Some of the most beautiful and engaging stories I’ve read have been from her run of Captain Marvel.
HC: What would your superhero name and power be, and why?
CM: I created a character named Enigma a long time ago, and I’ve always been fond of the name, so I think I would adopt it as my own. But more recently I made up a character named Miss Miracle for my novel. She started out as a complete joke, but I’ve grown to love how 1940’s it sounds. As for powers, I’ve wanted to be a telepath (with telekinesis) since I first saw the X-Men movies.
HC: What has been your greatest achievement here at WPUNJ?
CM: I’ve really loved seeing Her Campus WPUNJ grow from the moment Jenna and I began it. We’ve come so far already, and we’re doing incredibly. I’m proud of my team of writers and the hard work they’re putting into this site. We’re officially recognized as a Silver Level chapter now, and I’m hoping that we can move up to Gold Level for next semester!
HC: Being an honors student, working on your thesis, taking classes, working, and being so involved with HCWPUNJ, how do you manage your time so well?
CM: I make a lot of lists! My first list starts with the beginning of the week, usually on Monday so that it coincides with our Her Campus schedule. I make a checklist of all of the articles that I’ll need to edit for that week and check off whether they’ve been received, then edited, and then scheduled. I tend to do the same thing for my homework and my work schedule. And I’m working piece-by-piece on my thesis, a graphic novel about a girl who dies and becomes a grim reaper. If I come up with an idea for that, I write it down or sketch it out and put it with all of my thesis notes. It’s a lot to manage week-by-week, but I keep myself motivated and try to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
HC: What are your post-graduation plans?
CM: Thankfully I’ve still got another year before I have to finalize any decisions! I’ll still be doing my Practicum and Student Teaching semesters in Fall and Spring. But after that, I’m hoping to get a teaching job in a high school somewhere. I’d like to move closer to New York City or someplace like Chicago or Boston. As long as I’m near a big city, I’ll be happy. That way, I can still write novels over the summer!