Name: Brittany Dillard
Graduation Year: 2016
Hometown: St. Louis, Missouri
Major: Accounting
If you were a type of cookie, what would you be?
Probably those Reese’s cookies you can get in Coffee Emporium. Pretty standard with an dash of fun.
Something everyone should know about you: My most used emoji is the girl that has her hand kind of sideways in a sassy way (I thought for a long time she was flipping her hair, and part of me still wants to believe that). I don’t know what that says about me.
What made you want to apply to start a Xavier chapter of Her Campus, and what did you expect to get out of it?
Danielle approached me with this wild idea that we should apply to start a chapter of Her Campus, and I just kind of said sure. At this point (my sophomore year of school), I wasn’t really involved in anything on campus. I was “part” of clubs that I never really went to and didn’t really feel connected to the campus. Since I had to take the second semester of my sophomore year off for medical reasons, I felt like this was my last attempt to get involved. I’m so glad I did, because that’s exactly what happened!
What was the first year of HCXU like? Were there any unexpected challenges or surprises?
The very first year of HCXU is exactly what I would expect starting a business would feel like: scary, exciting, time absorbing, and fulfilling. We started off with a tiny team and no brand recognition on campus to a site that over 6,000 unique people visit weekly. There were times I felt like my life would be easier without it, but then when I really take time to think about it, I realize my college life would be so dull without Her Campus Xavier.
Why do you think Her Campus is important to have on campus? Why is it important to you?
Aside from social media and blogging being a legitimate news source nowadays, HCXU has taught me to push myself in ways I could never imagine. In high school, I always thought I was going to be an English major, but, after two and a half years of searching, I declared accounting. When Danielle and I started HCXU, I (wrongly) assumed that she would do the creative side and I would make the team run efficiently, like any good business student would. When Danielle decided to take a semester abroad and then followed it with a gap semester to intern in NYC, I quickly had to adapt and take on multiple roles. The amazing thing is, when I go into accounting firms for interviews, they don’t want to talk about my grades, projects, or accounting experience; they want to know about Her Campus.
When we say that working with HCXU is for all majors, we really mean that. Writing, communication, and interpersonal skills that are involved are seriously applicable to any job you may go into because in any job you are interacting with people on some level. Being able to be an effective communicator and to share your thoughts in an eloquent and clear way is what will make you stand out during an interview – so hone those skills at Her Campus Xavier!
Even while taking complex accounting classes where the textbooks are bigger than my face, I still have a creative outlet that lets me practice my communication, event planning, marketing, management, and interpersonal skills. Simply from a business student perspective, that’s everything you would want out of a potential employee. And the best part is, you’re doing all this while doing something fun that matters on campus.