Chase Hall ’13

In between the craziness of The DePauw newspaper deadlines and spring recruitment, senior Chase Hall made time to meet up with us for a quick Q&A last Saturday morning.  “Do I have to be ready for a photo shoot or can I roll out of bed,” he texted minutes before the interview.   We met in the newsroom in the Pulliam Center of Contemporary Media amongst piles of old newsprint and extra issues — his natural habitat.  This senior newsie has got it all: the drive, the dream, the dedication and the laugh that makes you smile back. 

HerCampus: Let’s start with the basics.

Chase Hall: Okay.  I’m from Clarendon Hills, Illinois.  I’m double majoring in English writing and communications. I’m an Honors Scholar.  And, I’m in Sigma Chi. 

HC: Are you involved in any organizations on campus?

CH:  So two semesters ago I was editor-in-chief of the newspaper.  I re-founded the Alpha Chapter of Society of Professional Journalists.  Then also I’m now Raj Bellani’s Special Project intern of the new Hubbard Center of Student Engagement. 

HC: What does that position entail?

CH: Well I’m on a team with Raj and his special projects manager.  I’ll be helping them create programming for the new department.  I’ve been working on their website and their social media, helping them get grants, helping them reach out to people, get internship connections and such. 

HC: What do you think this center will do for DePauw’s student body?

CH: I think it’s really cool that we’ve started to build this really unique department that no other college really has.  Though there are differences between the Winter Term office and the Career Services office, they’re both learning through doing.  The idea is to bring all of those experiential things together because they do overlap.  A lot of times students will do an internship over Winter Term or when they go abroad they might be doing service.  Sometimes their service trip is a part of an actual job, and so that kind of goes into the career services side.   It’s really cool seeing these offices all working together. 

HC: Speaking of career services, I hear you have a job post-graduation lined up. 

CH: I am lucky enough that I do have a job.  I will be in the Management Fellows Programs at the Cancer Treatment Center of America (CTCA).  And it is just coincidence that it’s called the same thing as the Management Fellows Program we have at DePauw. 

HC: Can you briefly describe what you’ll be doing in their Management Fellows Program?

CH: Well, it’s a two-year program that will rotate me around the company in terms of departments but then also around the country.  They have five hospitals across the nation plus a heart center and then two consulting businesses.  Then they also have one in the Virgin Islands and one in Switzerland. 

HC: Will you be travelling then abroad then?

CH: I really hope so.

HC: With your strong background in journalism, what compelled you apply for this?

CH:  It was a scary decision because it was the only non-journalism career I applied for.  What’s even scarier is that it happened way before I would have heard back from any newspapers.  I only just started applying to these newspapers when I got the offer from CTCA. 

HC: What sold you?

CH: They flew some of us up to Chicago for the interview and I got to meet all their VPs, the founder and the current Management Fellows.  I was really impressed by the company itself.  Also the skills that I’d be able to use as a Management Fellow I think really overlap with the ones I’ve developed as a journalist.   And it really filled the requirements I was looking for in a job.

HC: What makes you excited about this job?

CH: Just like journalism, I’ll be serving people.  But, in journalism I was given the information; here I might hopefully be able to save their lives and also be able to do a lot of problem solving.  Hopefully I’ll be able to look at issues, patient care or a particular project, and really be able to ask the tough questions about it in hopes to make it better for the patient.  It’s a really exciting opportunity to learn about myself and find something new I can be passionate about.  But in the end, it’s just two years, so we’ll see.

HC: If you could pass on any advice to the freshman class, what would you say?

CH: My advice to freshman would be to not be worried about keeping your mind set on one thing or one goal, but instead being really conscious of where you want to be as a senior and when you graduate.  I did not think I would end up editor of the newspaper.  I did not think I ‘d end up being passionate about journalism.  And I really didn’t think that after all of that I would end up at a Cancer Treatment Center.  But, because I was really conscious about what I wanted from DePauw, what I wanted from a fraternity, what I wanted from a job, that allowed me to make the right choices that were really fulfilling and exciting. 

HC: What about the newsie freshmen?

CH: I just think the more experience, the better.  I mean, I was dragged to the newspaper kicking and screaming as a freshman when they just needed someone to write.  They knocked on my door and said, “Hey we really need a column tonight.”  And then again from opinion [editor] to news [editor], they really needed a news editor and no one was applying, so they made me apply.  But, my advice would be to learn as much as possible.  Stay in the newsroom on deadline night.  Make as many relationships on campus as you can.  The more friends you have on campus, the more you’ll know what’s going on, and the more you can tell the other students and faculty what they need or want to know.  And know that hard work shows.  When you write a news story and it’s clear you didn’t find that extra source or you didn’t spend the time forging a really exciting lead, it shows. But, when you really put that extra effort in, upperclassmen will be impressed. 

HC: Okay, as the Campus Cutie, I must ask.  What do you look for in a girl?

CH: I’m glad I was texting for that because I only had to half process that you just asked me that.

HC: Let me rephrase.  What makes you excited about a girl?

CH: I think when I meet a girl I can always tell if they’re someone I want to be around whether they’re smiling and excited to talk or they create good conversation.  But I always know when I’m interested in a girl when they’re someone that I think can challenge me in a fun way.  I really like being around both my guy friends, but also girls who are very conscious about pushing me to do better, like they’re doing something themselves that can kind of show me up. I’ve always been kind of excited about a challenge.  I guess if a girl can show that she’s going to be a good, positive influence on me, someone I’d benefit from being around.  I don’t look for someone I can just take to dinner, but someone who will go on a run with me or will inspire me to do better at my job or someone who will push me to go travel somewhere I wouldn’t have otherwise. 

HC: What is the biggest mistake in the past that you’ve made with girls?

CH: I think that sometimes I go a little overboard with looking for someone to challenge me and I treat someone I really like as more of a business partner.  Sometimes I can come off too serious and critical when really I’m just thinking out loud or I need to talk something out for myself.  So I think my biggest mistake is not being conscious about being more friendly and fun.

HC: If you could date any celebrity, who would it be and why?

CH:  Who was the actress that played Katniss Everdeen?

HC: Jennifer—

CH: Jennifer Lawrence.  Yes, her because she seems like a total guys’ girl and she’s conscious about being a normal person as she’s becoming this new starlet.  I’ve watched interviews with her and she seems to just have the most fun and its totally conscious about not being a ditz about it.  And, I think that’s really cool.

HC: So have you seen the Hunger Games?

CH:  Oh yeah. 

HC: Do you have any campus crushes?

CH: If I had a campus crush, it’d be Lizzie Hineman. 

HC: Lastly, what is you’re favorite memory from DePauw?

CH: I actually haven’t thought of that.  That’s a total senior question. 

HC: Yeah, it is a senior question.  Are you ready for those?

CH: I’ve been trying not to think of that.

HC: I’m sorry.

CH: No, not in a sad way.  I haven’t gotten retrospective about it yet.

HC: I’ll rephrase.  What is an experience worth reliving other than the entire four years of college?

CH: I loved every moment at my fraternity, Sigma Chi. It’s kind of been an education about myself on what I think is important, how I can interact with other and how I can be a leader among others.  And it’s funny because within Sigma Chi there are lots of memories.  Every time we sit on a couch just watching TV there are those “remember when” and “what if” conversations, but there’s no one memory that has made Sigma Chi. It’s a collection of memories that has made my experience wonderful and exciting to me.  Really just every moment with the guys whether it was at the house or when they came up to visit me on New Year’s in Michigan.  Those are all Sigma Chi memories and I would just love to relive those three and a half years and to spend more time at the house.