With pizza, merch and all the buttons you could ever need, the American University Her Campus team hosted a “Get With the Times” watch party in Letts Formal lounge on Sunday, March 31st.
“Get With the Times” is a popular series created by The New York Times for college students to dive deeper into timely issues audiences may face everyday. Each event is broadcasted live from the college campus at which it takes place, allowing other colleges across the country to livestream the event. Some powerful speakers who have appeared on the series in the past are Elaine Welteroth, Trevor Noah and Senator Bernie Sanders.
This past “Get With the Times” event took place at The New School in New York City and was live streamed to 10 universities around the country. In addition to American University, Boston University, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech and the College of New Jersey also held watch parties.
This past event featured Ashley Graham, a model and body positivity activist. Over the course of the live stream, Graham gave career advice, tackled issues such as body positivity and motivated audiences to be their best selves. She spoke about her own personal journey including the challenges she has faced as a plus-sized model and in launching her career.
Towards the end of the talk, time was given for questions from the audience. Students from The New School asked questions in person while students from the live streaming schools sent in video questions which were played during the event. Questions ranged from asking about how to deal with stress to how to encourage body positivity as media consumers.
The biggest take away from the event was to love and take care of yourself. Whether that means daily affirmation of reminding yourself that you are amazing or taking up a hobby such as meditation or yoga, Ashley Graham stressed the importance of self love and positivity.
Attendees were welcome to help themselves to free food and drinks and had the chance to win raffle prizes. Some lucky winners were able to walk away with a NYT hat, shirt or button as well as a green tea face mask.