Name: Lauren Gaines
Classification: Freshman
Age: 18
Hometown: Baton Rouge, LA
College can be pretty hard, especially for freshman, tossed into a sudden whirlwind of independence. When you account for everlasting midterms, surviving your first Mardi Gras and simply sleeping, other extracurriculars may at times seem marginal—after all, you’re just trying to keep yourself alive off the tools that Bruff provides. However, freshman Lauren Gaines makes going above and beyond seem as easy as pressing the snooze button 10 minutes before your 8 a.m. With a radiant attitude and inspiring drive, Lauren is the ultimate example of what can happen when you pair effort with compassion and a dazzling personality.
What are you involved in here on campus?
I’m a general associate editor at The Hullabaloo, I am in the Freshman Leadership Program, I’m the vice president of Internal Programming for [Josephine Louise Hall] in the Residence Hall Association, and I’m a chairwoman of marketing for Campus-wide Programming for the Residence Hall Association, I am a new member of Alpha Kappa Psi business fraternity and…I’m a Green Wave Ambassador.
Of those associations, which really speaks to you? And what do you enjoy most about it?
I think being in FLP is one of the best decisions I’ve made since I got on campus, and even before I got on campus. I applied in June and we didn’t hear back until September, so I was playing the waiting game for a long time. But the opportunities you receive and the people you get to meet while being a part of the Freshman Leadership Program—they’re incomparable. I not only have learned the basics of how our undergraduate student government is run, but also, so many people that are involved around campus either know of FLP or have been a part of it if they’re upperclassmen. And so it doesn’t even matter what you want to go into; even if it’s not undergraduate student government, it prepares you professionally and with leadership skills to do whatever you want to do.
Do any of the activities you do reflect what you may want to pursue after college?
Yeah. A lot of [the Freshman Leadership Program] is leadership building and public speaking…One of my favorite activities we did was…a public speaking workshop, and I want to go into communications. Fingers crossed, my goal in life is to one day be White House Press Secretary, so public speaking is that whole job, and I’m sure many of the jobs leading up to that point, because that is an ultimate goal. But we definitely do activities to help with that. And the people. The people. Every time I go to an FLP meeting, the members and our coordinators teach me something new. Whether it’s something about life or it’s something about the work environment, I am constantly learning. That’s what I love about it.
How do you balance so much on your plate at one time?
I plan out my week every Sunday at 3 [p.m.]. I have a planner. It is torn to shreds at this point—I just got a new one, and I write out my week. I write out all of the meetings I’m going to have, when I’m going to do homework—what days I’m going to do that and what time. It’s all a time management game, honestly. And I think as long as you still have time to give everything you’re involved in 110 percent, you’re fine. But I definitely like to stay cognizant of over loading my plate, because it’s so easy to say yes to things, and it’s not always as easy to say no. So just plan.
What do you like to do in your free time?
Oh my gosh! Ok! So in my free time, I like to do freelance photography. I am constantly just sticking my camera in my friends’ faces. I’m like, “Wait, wait! We just passed this wall, and the lighting was good. Go back, go back!” I can be such a nuisance. I know it annoys them, but then they have a new profile picture, so it works out…I love movies. I have a subscription to everything—I have a Netflix subscription, a Hulu subscription, an Amazon Prime subscription…I try to at least take that time and just relax sometimes.
And this is the last question: why did you choose Tulane?
I have to say I chose Tulane because of the people. Because when I got my acceptance, I did Destination Tulane the weekend of Crawfest, and I can’t even explain how helpful tour guides were long after our tour, how nice students attending the festival were. We had no idea what was going on, and they were like, “Let me show you—this is over here, this is over there.” It was just the hospitality that really sold Tulane for me. It felt like a community before I was even a part of it. And that’s really what set it apart from other schools for me. I can’t emphasize enough how great the people are here. I have met so many amazing people and they reassure me every day that I’ve made the right decision.