Campus Celebrity: Nathalie Vacheron ’17!

As the school year comes to a close, we have to give all of our love and our sincerest thanks to the current Editor-in-Chief of Her Campus Rhodes, Nathalie!  Nathalie has been EIC for the past two years, and she has put so much work and love into HCR to make it the best it can be, and we’re so grateful for her dedication to the site! We sat down with her for a closing interview about her time with Her Campus and it’s impact on her college career.

1. What made you decide to join Her Campus initially?

An older girl in my sorority, Priscilla Choi, was the CC and she encouraged me to get involved! I’ve always loved to write, and when I became a Business major, I knew I was going to need a channel for that. My big also wrote for Her Campus, and it just looked like a lot of fun.

2. What is your favorite memory associated with HCR?

The Survival Kits are really fun. Our sponsors are awesome! Tabling is probably my favorite part because then people get to know more about Her Campus, or hear about it for the first time (and get free stuff). I have loved people’s reactions to our Campus Cuties section over the years. It’s definitely a lot of people’s point-of-recognition, and a fun, goofy section in general. It has been hilarious the number of guys who have come up to me hinting (or straight-up asking) to be our next Campus Cutie. It’s a huge honor and great resume-builder, so I get it…

3. What was your favorite article you wrote for HCR?

I definitely lean toward writing satirical articles, but one of my favorite articles I’ve written was a pretty serious one about deferred rush. It was a controversial issue that had a lot of people fired up on campus. I wanted to look at both sides of the argument while also offering my thoughts and I was really surprised and humbled at the number of views and shares “Deferred Rush: The Eye of the Storm” got. I’ve loved writing my “Things I’ll Miss” series. I also enjoyed writing my articles on killer clown economics (lol TBT), the read receipt, and thoughts during finals/making a tree.

4. What are you going to miss most about Rhodes (besides Rat breakfast, parking, and first floor lib)?

You’ll just have to stay tuned for the next one ;)

5. What advice would you give to the future EICs Celia and Sarah?

Sarah and Celia are awesome, first of all. When they told me they wanted me to be the last Campus Celebrity of the year, my heart literally melted. They have been so helpful this semester and I know they have a sincere love for Her Campus that will be infectious. My biggest piece of advice is to promote—the more we promote Her Campus, the more fans/views we get, and the more people get excited to join and write! It’s really a win-win.

6. What are your postgraduate plans (feel free to humble brag)?

I’m so pumped to be going into health administration—it’s been my dream from the get-go to be on the healthcare side of business. I will be working at West Cancer Center in revenue cycle, and I couldn’t be more excited. It’s kind of the adult version of St. Jude in Memphis, which has always been close to my heart since I was a Tri Delt here.

7. What do you think every collegiate woman should know?

Haha this is a tough one. There’s so much to know, and you can’t always know until you’re learning by doing, learning by experiencing. I will say that every collegiate woman should be confident. Lean on yourself. Depend on yourself. You are capable of so much. I’m not saying you can’t depend on others or that you shouldn’t, but it is amazing what you can accomplish. The only thing standing in your way of an accomplishment is your willpower and hard work. Yeah, sometimes things aren’t going to work out the way you envision them, and you’re not always going to get what you want, but be confident in yourself and your ability to go for things. Put yourself out there and don’t care what other people think. Writing for Her Campus was intimidating at first, and I was scared to share my articles on Facebook in fear of coming off as self-promoting, or in fear that my articles weren’t good enough to be read by people. But Her Campus has given me a voice and a purpose I didn’t realize I had, and now I’m proud to write and share. It’s what I love. It took confidence to share my writing, but it built my confidence in the process as well.

8. What do you wish you had known freshman year?

I wish I had known how much college would change my life. I knew it would, and everyone told me it would, but I didn’t quite realize how literal the words “next chapter in your life” would be. College is an amazing and unique experience—so to any freshmen out there, get the most from it, and don’t be afraid of change. There’s gonna be a lot of it, and it’s going to make you a better person.

 9. We’re sure everyone wants to know, what’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever gotten in the giveaway box?

Hahaha oh man…there have been a few. Some I can’t even name. I wouldn’t necessarily call them “weird”…maybe just “surprising” (we are thankful for any and all donations from the sponsors, obviously!!). We got a random bra once. It felt a little awkward laying it out on the MG table during the tabling event…like… “Anyone want this random 34B bra? It’s not used, we promise?”

 10. Any last comments you’d like to make about Her Campus or college in general?

If you’re reading this, you should write for Her Campus!!! Like us on social media!!! Ok, shameless plug over. But for real, thank you to anyone who has ever written for Her Campus Rhodes or read our articles. It means so much to our team, and we hope that your day is a little more brightened as a result <3