When I went to my first Her Campus meeting during my first semester of college, I had no idea what to expect. To be honest, I’d only gone because one of my friends was interested in Her Campus, and I was about to skip the meeting when another girl I knew texted me about going.
When I was at the meeting, I sat by myself, feeling really awkward because I didn’t know anyone. At that meeting however, I quickly became interested in what Her Campus was all about, and at the end of the meeting, they did a drawing for a little prize of Her Campus goodies. And I won.
I loved getting to write articles. My first semester of college was not the greatest. I was at West Virginia University, where I didn’t know anyone and was super homesick. Her Campus was the one part of WVU that I was passionate about. I felt like it gave me a voice at a time in my life where I felt very small and insignificant. I got to write articles and share my experiences, in the hopes of helping others.
The day of that first meeting, I never would’ve imagined that I would become the President of a Her Campus chapter, let alone start a brand new chapter at a different school, but that’s exactly what I did.
I transferred to Youngstown State University my spring semester of freshman year, and shortly after decided to try to start a Her Campus chapter here, since YSU didn’t have one. With the help of my roommate at the time, Angela, who is now our VP, and our Social Media Director, Karleigh, we brainstormed ideas and found other girls to help get this group started.
This semester, it will be a year since we’ve launched and I’m so proud of how far we’ve come.
The girls in our chapter have such strong dedication, it honestly surprises me sometimes. Since we basically launched during the pandemic, we haven’t gotten the chance to fully explore the different opportunities that we otherwise would have if we could be in person. We’ve had plenty of setbacks, to say the least. But we’ve been able to push through them and keep improving. It’s a great feeling to know you have a group of girls with similar goals standing behind you and helping each other. I only hope that we can continue to grow as a group as time goes on.
I didn’t know what to expect when I decided to bring Her Campus to YSU. I didn’t know if enough people would even be interested in making this an organization, and I didn’t know if it would last. But here we are, a year later, as a gold level chapter, which is something I’m very proud of considering all the hoops we’ve had to jump through up until this point.
Her Campus has made me laugh, and occasionally, cry, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I’m determined to keep this chapter going and to help set the foundation for a great group here. Her Campus has given me something to be passionate about, to set goals for, and has introduced me to an amazing group of ladies who each have their own unique personalities and stories to tell. I’m so thankful for each and every one of them for helping me make this a reality. I can’t imagine my life without this experience.