Hello everyone! I am back with another Executive profile for you all, and this time with Sarah, Her Campus SFU’s Director of Events!
Sarah started her first year at the University of Ottawa as a French immersion communications student. Later on, she transferred to SFU’s communications program, with an extended minor in French. You may recognise her from Brooked Events and The Schedule SFU, as she is actively involved with their event planning as well.
During her spare time, Sarah enjoys reading Game of Thrones, binge watching Netflix shows, and baking cookies. She loves her Boston Terrier, Harley, and travelling throughout Canada. Her goal is to visit the Maritimes, and may potentially move out east after graduation.
I was able to chat with her and learn that she describes herself as a “basic white girl.” Haha! Continue reading our interview below to learn more about Sarah, Her Campus events, and her time management tips!
The basics
Name: Sarah Lachance
Age: 19… But almost 20! Being a December baby sucks..
Hometown: Pitt Meadows
Program of Study: Communication
Year: 3rd
Social Media: IG – @sarahlachance
What we would like to know
How and when did you begin to get involved with Her Campus?
When I first came to SFU, I only had one friend here and that was my girlfriend from high school. I’m a pretty social person so I wanted to meet new people, but I had no idea how because of everything I heard about SFU being a commuter school. But, I made it my mission to put myself out there and get out of my comfort zone to meet some new people. I’ve always had an interest in writing and when I found out that SFU had an up and coming Her Campus chapter, I knew that I had to try it out. This is my second year doing it and I am absolutely loving it. We have a wonderful group of girls and I have definitely learned a lot from this experience.
Have you faced any difficulties in your new role?
I think the biggest difficulty that I’ve faced so far is getting myself organized. Deadlines come up so fast and you really need to be on top of your activities when you are in an important role, or even writing! It’s definitely been a balancing act, especially with me stepping up within the other clubs I’m involved in as well, but I think I’m starting to get the hang of it. Pressure is a big thing too. I get stressed very easily, and sometimes I feel like I’m holding everything on my shoulders, but then I remember that I have a great exec team helping me out and it makes things a lot easier.
How do you manage your time while studying, working and volunteering?
I live by my planner. It’s small enough to fit in my purse, but big enough for me to write random notes in it, and it helps me keep track of everything I need to do that day. It’s a super cute rose-gold one I got from Chapters, and honestly, it’s my lifesaver. My whole life is in that thing. I tried using my phone calendar for a little while, but there’s just something therapeutic about making lists and writing things down. Can you tell that I have a hardcore type-A personality? I’m actually obsessed with planning. As soon as I get the syllabus for a class, I colour coordinate everything and put in all the due dates. Something I’ve also learned that has been really helpful is remembering to “BF” things in there. BF is some fancy term I learned at this office I worked at (I think it means “bring forward”… but don’t quote me on that), which is basically adding a reminder that something is due a week prior so you give yourself enough warning if you totally forgot about that essay you had due. Seriously though, buy a planner. It will save your life.
What is your go-to autumn outfit?
My comfy Lulus, over the knee black boots and some sort of baggy shirt with a blanket scarf. Scarves are the ultimate staple of my fall wardrobe.
If you were cereal, which cereal would you be and why?
Lucky charms. 1000%. The box is just so cute and colourful, and I have a thing for marshmallows. Plus, I’ll always be a kid at heart.
Do you ever worry that no one will show up to an event you are hosting? If so, how do you prevent this from happening?
All the time. It’s unavoidable when you have any role surrounding events. It’s tough because literally every little decision that is made, right down to the tiniest decorations, is done for the guests and of course no one wants to see their hard work be for nothing. I just make sure to put my all into every event I do and it helps to have a really great marketing team to back me up. At the end of the day, I’m a big believer in not stressing about things you can’t control. However, I’d be lying if I said I don’t get butterflies the night before an event.
What kind of events do you have planned for Her Campus for the year ahead?
Well, we have our first event happening on November 5th at Club Ilia! It’s a Wine Social with Kappa Beta Gamma SFU and I am super excited about that. I also really want to see if we can score a female guest speaker from the journalism industry to come to SFU to speak to us. I think that would be something super cool. I love having the opportunity to learn from strong women, especially in an industry I am really interested in. I think that would attract a lot of attention from the ladies here at SFU and probably even some of the men as well!
A student emails you feedback for a previous event that you hosted, indicating that he/she felt left out during the event and did not have a good time. How do you respond?
That would definitely suck. You put so much effort into something and of course you want everyone to have a good time. I would definitely sympathize with the person and try and ask them for more feedback and if there was anything that could’ve been done to improve the overall event to make it feel more inclusive. I would also personally invite him/her to come to the next event we’d be throwing and try and make sure that this student’s feedback was incorporated in the planning. Of course, you can’t please everyone but often when someone gives you feedback, they weren’t the only ones thinking it. It’s important to take a step back every now and then and look at things from an attendee’s perspective instead of a planner’s one.
It is 3PM on a Sunday. You are most likely _____:
Drinking a cup of coffee all snuggled up on my couch. Sundays are all about caffeine, warm blankets and Netflix.
That pretty much sums up my Sunday too. Welcome to the team, Sarah!