From left to right: Exiting CC Jessica Norton, incoming CC Joelle Bellini, incoming CC Sara Capucilli, and exiting CC Paige Gawley.
On May 26th our current CCs, Paige Gawley and Jessica Norton, will be graduating Marymount and leaving MMM’s Her Campus chapter to two rising juniors, Sara Capucilli and Joelle Bellini. In order for Paige and Jess to say goodbye to the chapter they built, and in order Sara and Joelle to introduce themselves to the Her Campus family, we’ve put together a four part interview series in which an exiting CC interviews an incoming one and vice versa. Paige already got the chance to interview Sara and now it’s Sara’s turn to speak to Paige about her feelings surrounding graduation, favorite internship, and what she’ll miss most about Her Campus.
Sara Capucilli: Are you excited to graduate?
Paige Gawley: It’s crazy! I’m equal parts excited, sad, nervous, and all of those things. It’s so cliché, but 4 years go by way faster than you would think. I graduate in less than two weeks and that’s insane to me. I’ve been planning the graduation trip my family is taking and we’ll be talking about going to a show or going to dinner and how fun it will be, but then I remember it’s because I’m leaving. In terms of after graduation, I feel pretty prepared from the internships I’ve had where I learned so much. I’m not nervous about the skills I have. Finding a job is stressful, but I’m excited about it even though I can’t believe how quickly it’s happening!
SC: Where have you applied and what are your hopes for the future?
PG: I’ve applied to Bustle, Refinery 29, Vanity Fair, Vulture, Viacom, and Decider, where I’ve been interning this semester. Even though I don’t know exactly where I’m going to end up yet, I know I want to stick with entertainment journalism and see where that leads.
SC: What was your favorite internship?
PG: Decider.com—an offshoot of the New York Post—has definitely been my favorite internship. I was there the summer before my senior year and then I was asked back for my last semester. So it’s my second time there and it’s been really great. Over the summer I was there full-time and was the only intern so I got to write a ton. One of my main jobs was recapping The Bachelorette so that was a dream. On my first day my editor asked what I was watching and that was my immediate response, so he asked if I wanted to recap it every week! That really worked out for me. This semester, even though I’m only there two days a week, I’ve gotten to do a lot more. This past week I interviewed one host of the podcast Gilmore Guys and I’m the biggest Gilmore Girls super fan so that was so fun for me. That will actually be one of my last articles at Decider, which is exciting!
SC: What will you miss most about MMC?
PG: I just think it’s going to be weird not being around my friends every day. We’re all splitting up and moving on. It’s all very weir. It’s the same feelings you get in high school, but now everything is up in the air. In high school you know you’re headed to college, but from here who knows! I’m going to miss my professors so much too. I know I’ll be back to see them, but of course it will be different.
SC: What are your hopes for the chapter as we take over?
PG: I really want you guys to have cool events and be able to make it more than just writing articles, even though that’s such a cool part of it. That’s the one thing we’re a bit bummed we couldn’t work out. Each year we got better at trying to build more of a community among our members and I feel like that’s what I hope most for you guys!
SC: How do you feel about leaving Her Campus?
PG: It’s so weird to be leaving. When we got your transition paperwork it felt so strange and a little sad. It’s something Jess came to me about my sophomore year. I read the site a little and she worked with them in high school so we gave it a shot and applied. We didn’t hear back for weeks—it was so nerve-racking—but we finally got it! It’s just so exciting to start something and feel like you were carving out your own area at school. Even though Marymount isn’t big, we still have niche cultures and it felt good to get in on that. It also gave our friends a chance to be published. We’ve gotten to do so many things like College Fashion Week and Her Conference, where I’ve met some really talented women. All of the opportunities Her Campus gave us is really incredible. Knowing that I’ll see the articles next year and won’t have anything to do with it is odd. I mean obviously I’m excited to do other things and move on, but I really am proud of what we’ve accomplished here.
You can keep up with Paige via her website and Twitter account.