Campus Celeb: Maggie Bunzel

Wooden drawers come to life in her room with glittering silver stickers. The walls are painted with pictures and memories, hundreds of them, glistening with colorful nostalgia. Pink Pop-Out art is taped up to the wall, reading “Love.” Every corner of her dorm, down to her hand-made pink-and-white-striped bedframe shouts personality. Who knew you could buy stick-on paper to cover your desk drawers?

Margaret Bunzel. AKA Wunderkind.

This week’s campus celeb, Margaret Bunzel, known to her friends as “Maggie,” is a COM major at Boston University. Never to be found in sweats, Maggie is a strong and loving soul, with incredible determination (though she admits she takes advantage of late classes and can often be found asleep at 1pm).

That extra time sleeping had no hindrance on her ability to write a “tell-all memoir about growing up in a wealthy Los Angeles suburb, attending a prestigious private prep school and facing the challenge of finding out who you are amidst the sea of judgment known as high school” (wording according to what she sent to prospective agents).

Or… on her ability to participate in a Q&A for HerCampus!

1. What are you studying at BU? Interests beyond that or involving that?

I am studying journalism, public relations and film and tv. I came in as a journalism major thinking I wanted to pursue magazine journalism and work at a fashion magazine like Vogue or Elle one day, but now I think I want to be in public relations because I think it is a really interesting and exciting field. I’ve always loved writing, ever since I got my first Mac computer back in the day when the logos were still the rainbow apples. I remember writing my first short story on the computer, something I still have, and I always knew that I was going to go into communication. It was just too much of a passion to let go of. My dad always told me, “do what you love and you will never work a day in your life.”  But besides writing, I love singing, fashion, photography, and drawing. My mom is a costume designer, and ever since I was little, I was surrounded by beautiful clothes in old costume warehouses and sketches of beautiful costumes my mother would create. I was immersed in that world at a young age and I attribute my love of fashion and drawing to the world of dusty costume houses and sewing machines that my mom introduced me to. 

2. Where do you hope/dream to see yourself in 5-10 years?

That’s a tough question because there is so much I want to do. I hope to see my book get published and to see more books get published down the road. I have actually already started a second book. I hope to be a successful author, living in New York City, maybe with a successful public relations career or a career in fashion. A dream of mine since I was little was to start a clothing line with a little boutique in Soho. I want to call it “Lady Jane” after my grandmother, because that’s what people called her. Maybe I’ll introduce myself into the fashion world with a line of wedding dresses, or maybe just beautiful, eclectic clothing. My hopes and dreams are all over the place, which I have been told isn’t a bad thing. I want to see a lot of places, meet a lot of people and do a lot of great things. I want to be successful in life with whatever I do, but not because I want to be famous, or to be wealthy or anything like that. I want to make a difference in the world, be a voice for a generation, and inspire young women. That’s true success to me. 

3. What/who inspired you to write your book?

I always knew I wanted to write and when high school was nearing its end, I realized that I wanted to tell my story and share my experiences with others. I didn’t know I was going to write a book so soon or so quickly. I wasn’t planning on writing anything for a while, I’d at least wait until after college. But it all changed one day in English class at the end of my senior year. We were all talking about the future and what college had in store for all of us. My teacher sat there listening to all of us talk and then he interjected, “One day, I bet one of you smart kids will become a writer and become well-known and we will all remember you and this class, and this moment. Perhaps you’ll even write about this very conversation we’re having”. One eager girl shot her hand up and insisted it was going to be her. I rolled my eyes. But my teacher’s words got me thinking. I wanted to write about my life and I wanted to do it immediately. So I went home that very day and I started writing. So I guess I owe Mr. Michaelson credit: he inspired me to write my story. 

4. A book is a serious feat. Was it a long/difficult process?

Writing has always come very naturally to me. I wouldn’t call it easy though, because making words sound beautiful and fluid on a page is not an easy or a simple task. One second, I will write a sentence and love it and then two minutes later I will read it again and hate it. Rewriting is the name of the game. I sort of mapped out the process for myself when I decided to start writing the book so it wouldn’t seem as overwhelming. I wrote about every moment that stood out to me in high school, but in no particular order. Then, when I had finished, I started to put them all together in chronological order and realized that that was how I wanted to tell my story: in a linear way starting with my freshman year and ending with my senior year. Then, I wrote transitions to blend them all together. Oddly, even when I was only halfway through writing the book, I came up with the ending. It just sort of came to me. So I knew exactly what the last page would look like for a long time. I finally wrote the ending sitting on a bench looking over the Charles River last October. That was an amazing moment seeing all 244 pages completed. But I wasn’t done yet. I have been re-writing it and editing it for a year. It is a long process because it is never ending. You always think you can beat yourself and make a sentence sound better and better. It is like I am competing with myself. Writing a book, even about my own life, which is a story I know so well, is exhausting. I want it to be perfect, but of course, it never will be. It just has to be really damn good. And at last, I have reached that point and I can call my book “finished”.

5. Now that you’ve finished the book, what are your plans for it?

Right now, my book is with several agents. They have you send the first 3 chapters or around 20-30 pages. This is called a book sample. Along with that, I send them a query letter, which is like a cover letter for an author. The book sample is with the agents for a while; it is not a swift process. Once the agents finish the sample, they ask to read the rest of the book and meet with you. If they like your material, they sign with you like a talent agent and become your literary representation. Then, they take the sample of your book and they pitch it to all the top publishers. There are 4 publishers that everyone wants as they are the crown jewel of the book world. Hopefully, my book will get picked up by an agent and then get published. 

7. Fun fact about yourself?

My favorite thing to do is travel. Out of all the places I’ve gone, I would say it is a tie between Paris and Santorini, Greece. Paris is the most magical place I have ever been. Probably the best moment of my life was when I went to Paris with one of my best friends and we went to the carnival right next to the Louvre and we went on one of the rides. It is one of those rides where you sit in a chair and if lifts you up and it swings you around in a giant circle. As we started swinging, our feet dangling above the city, the Eiffel Tower lit up and began sparkling. We were soaring above Paris just as the nightly light show began. It was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.