Veteran Sarada Kalpee, “I Have to Take Care of My Own”

When U.S. Army Reserve Staff Sergeant Sarada Kalpee enlisted, she envisioned doing only one round of service.

“When I first joined, I originally thought, I’m going to do my 6 years, I’m going to get out, it’s just a temporary thing. When I was in and I met such amazing people, I fell in love with it. I fell in love with my job, with the humor, with the people, just the since of pride. I fell in love with all of it, so here I am 13 years later still in.”

Kalpee enlisted in October 2002 after her cousin was trapped in one of the Twin Towers on 9/11. Her sister enlisted exactly a year to the date after. Ever since, she has had a strong since of dedication to the job and to her fellow veterans.

Along with being an active member of the Reserves, Kalpee has been working as a Veterans Service Officer at Boston Veterans’ Services for the past 14 months. The job came to her through a friend who knew she was struggling to find work. As it turned out, the position was the perfect fit.

“I know me, and I cannot work for civilians. I have to take care of my own, that’s where my heart is. So I applied for the job. I love it. I need it.”

Kalpee in her office at Boston Veterans’ Service

Her time in the Army Reserves has been equally rewarding, allowing her to serve in many different positions throughout her years of service.

“My rank right now is Staff Sergeant. For the past 13 years, I’ve been either a Platoon Sergeant, or a Motor Sergeant, Senior Mechanic… My job in the Army is an All-Wheel Mechanic. Right now, [in] my current unit, I am an instructor. That’s my M.O.S. [Military Occupation Specialty].”

Kalpee has traveled to many different states throughout the country, mostly to schools to fulfill her instructor duties. She has also been oversees for a deployment to Afghanistan that ended up being an extremely challenging yet influential experience for her.

“I deployed with a Combat Engineer unit from Idaho. I was 1 of 3 females out of 130 people. So it was a little rough. I experienced sexism. I experienced racism because, [with] a group of guys from Idaho, they definitely weren’t ready for having a colored female in their ranks. On top of that, out of 130, I think I out-ranked 110 of them. So it was difficult emotionally, but you learn, you overcome.”

Her overall passion for the job allowed her to move past this discrimination. Despite 12 hour night shifts, she felt satisfied with the work she was doing oversees and would be willing to do it all again.

“As far as my job was concerned, the extent of what I learned was amazing. Sleep deprivation was [also] amazing, but I think the adrenaline from learning something new, meeting new people kept me going. A year went by really fast. I am one of those people, out of many, that say I would go back to Afghanistan in a heartbeat. I loved it.”

What also kept her going during her deployment was the thought of her family back home. As a mother of two, Kalpee says her number one priority is caring for her children.

“No matter what I went through, it was always: maintain focus on raising my children. I’m here for a job [and] I’m going home to my children; I’m not going home with these soldiers.”

Skype was the main form of communication Kalpee would use to stay in touch with her children. While the time difference and her long shifts made staying awake challenging, she took advantage of every interaction with her kids.

“I think the best memory I have was when I would Skype the kids and I would tell my daughter [who was 7 at the time], ‘Mommy is so tired. I just got off a 12 hour shift. I’m laying in bed.’ I told [her], ‘Read me a story until I fall asleep. And if I fall asleep, just shut your computer and it automatically shuts my computer off.’ So she literally read me stories until I fell asleep and then I would message her the next day.”

Kalpee was so excited to be reunited with her family after returning home. However, things weren’t entirely smooth sailing. Anger issues from her time oversees  made adjusting back into her everyday life a bit more of a challenge.

“My little sister was in Iraq before I went to Afghanistan, and when she came home, she had massive anger issues. So my mother told me, when you come home, you’re moving into my house with the kids. She said, I saw what your sister went through and you’re not going to take your issues out on the children. A month into me coming home, my son [who had just turned 5], said you curse a lot. It takes strength for my children to tell me that, so I got it in check. It took some time, but you learn to put your anger on the back burner, especially when you’re dealing with it with people that don’t deserve it.”

Now, as an employee of Boston Veterans’ Services, Kalpee spends her days helping to recognize the service and sacrifice of our military veterans and their families.

“[This organization] is a blessing. I have seen veterans that would otherwise commit suicide or be homeless and living on the street. I’ve seen so much help from this department. And then, I’ve also seen the opposite where I want to punch [some people] in the face because they’re being lazy and they don’t want to help themselves. This is a handout to them. So there’s opposite sides of it, but overall, I’m glad this department is here.”

2016 Presidential Election: Who’s the Favorite at Emmanuel College?

With the 2016 presidential election campaign fully underway, many Americans have begun to pick favorites. This is certainly true at Emmanuel College, where the results of a recent poll show a clear front-runner among this year’s candidates.

Of the 117 people surveyed, 58.1% are backing Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

Sanders, former mayor & sole congressperson in the House of Representatives for the state of Vermont, is currently serving his second term as U.S. Senator.

“The reason I’m rooting for Bernie is because I would automatically lean toward someone with socially liberal ideas,” said one respondent. “I feel like he has that by the people, for the people mentality… I also just like rooting for the underdog.”

Said to be the “perfect fit for Millennials”, it is not surprising that Bernie is so popular at Emmanuel. His views on independence from two-party politics, climate change policies,  job creation, and student debt reform are popular among college-age students around the country.

And with 96.6% of the people polled falling within the 18-24 age range, it’s almost to be expected that Sanders would come out on top.

“The fact that we have a candidate who leans towards socialism is exciting to me,” said a 20-year-old female respondent. “Also, his stance on financing college and college loans is obviously important to me as a college student.”

His Democratic contender, Senator Hillary Clinton of New York, definitely seems to be less popular.  At Emmanuel, only 16% of respondents identified Clinton as the candidate they intend to vote for.

This falls in line with a recent poll conducted by the college textbook company Chegg. Their survey showed that only 18% of students enrolled at two- or four-year universities nationwide select the former Secretary of State and First Lady of the United States as their Democratic candidate of choice.

As for the Republican candidates, most fall low on Emmanuel College respondents’ totem poll.

Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson seems to be the “favorite”, with 6.1% of respondents’ support. While Sanders considers Carson’s views “absurd”, at Emmanuel, he seems to be the lesser of other extremes found within the Republican party.

Real estate developer Donald Trump is one of these extremes, coming in with just 3.4% of respondent’s support. This percentage makes it clear that Trump’s views, on issues such as Second Amendment rights and immigration reform, simply don’t resonate with students at Emmanuel College.

Above all, while these results are important for predicting who might win the election, whether or not students will actually vote is another story.

According to the poll, 92% of respondents do ‘intend’ to vote. With a mere 3% who said ‘maybe’ and 5% who flat out said ‘no’, this is a promising  number.

Come election day, we’ll have to see whether their ‘intention’ becomes a reality.

FOIA, Bruins, & the Lowell Goat: The Many Stories of Kyle Clauss

Boston Magazine news journalist Kyle Clauss has had an interesting career. From chasing wild goats to getting his hands on an Olympic bid book, Clauss has seen it all. He’s even had the chance to cover his favorite hockey team, the Boston Bruins, as well as teams in the newly created National Women’s Hockey League.

Before starting at Boston Magazine, Kyle worked as a reporter for the Lowell Sun, covering the small town of Billerica. “It was a blast because something was always going on. Someone was always willing to call me up and tattle about someone else.”

Transitioning into Boston brought a lot more competition into Clauss’s work. “You have literally 100 reporters [in Boston] all going after the same person, all trying to get the same access. That forces you to change your approach.”

Still, he was able to make his mark with his coverage of the controversial Boston 2024 Olympic bid.

The CEO of Boston 2024 swore that he wouldn’t be using any taxpayer funds or public funding for the games. Able to “smell the blood in the water”, Clauss decided to dig deeper into the story to find out the truth. “I tried to look for any point where the bid came in contact with a public institution because that’s where I could get the documents through a FOIA.”

Clauss ended up getting his hands on the bid book for Boston 2024 and publishing an article for Boston Magazine on the discrepancies of what wasn’t in the version of the book passed along to the public. “I think that was the biggest flaw of Boston 2024:
they never really thought engaged with the public meaningfully. They never really took the press seriously.”

Despite being the first person to break this story, the Boston Globe gave credit to the Boston Business Journal, who published three hours after Clauss.  “That was the worst part of it… I had the scoop. I wanted it to be known that I had the scoop. The Globe gave it to the other guy… [It] kind of hurt.”

Despite this, Kyle has been credited with writing a lot of exciting stories.

One such example is his coverage of the Boston Bruins. He was given the opportunity to cover the 2013 Stanley Cup after creatively using an app to post about the Bruin’s going-away rally that year. From that connection, he was able to continue covering the Bruins, including the season when they won the President’s Cup.

Perhaps one of his most intriguing stories surrounds the somewhat infamous “Lowell Goat”.  During his time at the Lowell Sun, Kyle followed the rampant goat’s trek around town. “It took on this mythical quality to it because no one could capture this goat… Exactly a month later, it was caught.”

When finally captured, Clauss was able to capture a selfie with the goat. His overall coverage of the story has landed him the nickname, “the Goat Guy”. But Kyle doesn’t mind.

“I owe that goat a lot… I might just go have a glass of scotch with the goat in a field one day.”

Housing Safety Issues Plague Boston, But Do They Reach Emmanuel College?

Housing safety is a concern for students across America. Overcrowding, safety violations, and poor conditions affect students living both on and off-campus. This issue seems overwhelming present within the city of Boston, where a reported 250,000 students attend colleges and universities.

One particularly tragic case of housing safety occurred on April 28, 2013 in a house on 87 Linden St. in Allston, MA. According to a Globe Spotlight series, the house was illegally filled with 14 people living in 12 bedrooms, with only six of those bedrooms listed in building plans. Early on the morning of April 28, a fire broke out that consumed the upper floors of the house, trapping and killing Boston University senior Binland Lee in her attic bedroom.

The incident is just one of many terrifying and unfortunate occurrences related to housing safety in the Boston area. Despite a city zoning rule that prohibits more than four full-time undergraduates from sharing a house or apartment, a Globe survey found that nearly one-third of students questioned were living with at least five undergraduate students.

Health and safety issues further plague undergraduate living. The Globe’s analysis of records concluded that reports of mold and mice infestations, as well as broken carbon monoxide detectors and overcrowding, are all too common student-rich areas in Boston.

These problems are often a result of absent or neglectful landlords. Landlord giant Anwar Faisal is one of the most complained about landlords in the city of Boston. According to the Globe’s findings, he and his companies have at least 22 lawsuits and 11 criminal reports filed against them at Boston Housing Court. Yet, he continues to mistreat tenants and skirt around the law.

Students at Emmanuel College seem to have it easy. With four on-campus residence halls and three off-campus satellite housing options, many students will never experience the overcrowding and terrible conditions students experience living on their own throughout the city.

“We had one broken cabinet door [when we moved in]. I was actually surprised, because people talk mad crap about City View. They say it’s the worst place ever. But I got there and I was pleasantly surprised… It’s very spacious,” said Gina Gallagher (’17), a resident at City View Apartments, one of Emmanuel’s satellite options.

Elisabeth Staal (’16) also had rave reviews about her apartment in Trilogy, a new off-campus option for Emmanuel Students. “Oh, beautiful,” she said when asked about the condition of the apartment. “We are the first ones to live there. They’re brand new. So any damages, they’ll definitely know it’s us!”

Despite the quality conditions of Emmanuel’s housing options, students certainly have strong opinions on the issues happening elsewhere in the city, often drawing from what they know from friends.

“I know that a few of my friends were living in an apartment at the beginning of the summer and they were kicked out because, apparently, the landlord overcrowded the house,” said Joseph Deauna (’16). “[That’s] definitely a healthy and safety problem.”

“I’ve yet to be in an unsafe apartment—I’ve lived in three apartments so far, some in really terrible condition, but not in unsafe condition,” said Jordan Lindley (’16), who lives in a four bedroom apartment with friends in East Boston. “[But] there are a lot of landlords that are taking advantage of students which sucks and is terrible to see. I just wish there was more legal repercussions for that.”

Staal (’16) agrees. “I think it’s an easy thing to fall into. One of my friends showed up to his house in Alston and it was condemned and they didn’t know it was… I don’t know if it’s a matter of the owners deceiving the buyers or if people don’t look as closely as they should because they don’t know the ins and outs of buying a house because we’re 21, 22 years old and [have] never done it before. There has to be some way to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

On-campus resident Alexa Albanese (’16) isn’t sure who to blame in situations like Binland Lee’s. “Not that the victim was in the wrong, but to willingly live in an attic needs to be on your own conscious there. How safe do you feel?”, she asked. “I think that there are regulations and clearly, they were very easily broken. It’s the job of law enforcement to oversee all those things, but it’s also the job of the city to provide housing that is reasonable.”

A Quick Fire Interview with Starbucks Shift Manager, Jonathan Chan

Every time I go to the Fenway Triangle Trilogy Starbucks, I see the same guy. He has dark hair and a nice smile. The name on his apron reads “Jon” and he can usually be seen doing laps back and forth behind the counter as soon, working quickly to prepare everyone’s order. He’s always been so friendly toward me when I order my grande Strawberries & Creme Frappuchino, but beyond that, I knew nothing about him. I was able to catch him for a quick interview between drinks to try to change that. Here’s what I found out:

How long have you been working at Starbucks?

JC: About a year and one month, I would say.

Do you like it?

JC; I do, yeah.

What’s your official title at Starbucks?

JC: I’m one of the shift managers here.

Did you start off in that position?

JC: Nope, I started out as a barista and got promoted about 6 months ago.

What’s your favorite drink at Starbucks?

JC: One of my favorite drinks, actually, is a Cool Lime Refresher with half lemonade, half water.

Are you a student or did you graduate?

JC: I graduated.

Where did you go to school?

JC: UMass Amherest.

What did you study there?

JC: I studied Sociology and education.

Do you have any other jobs?

JC: I actually tutor high schools. I tutor them in SAT prep and AP courses that they’re taking.

We didn’t have much time to get into anything of substance, but it’s a start. Next time I go to Starbucks, maybe I’ll give the Cool Lime Refresher a try…

Reporter/Editor Cara Sprunk: ” I Should Have Known Journalism Was My Fate”

As both a senior reporter for Us Weekly and managing editor of Her Campus, you’d think Cara Sprunk has had her sights on the business of journalism since the beginning. “ I toyed with being a doctor for a short time, same with being a lawyer,” she says. “However, journalism was always a passion of mine – I wrote a ‘newspaper’ with my friends for our neighborhood, always loved writing, and adored reading. I should have known journalism was my fate.”

After deciding to put her pre-med plans aside, Cara started working for the Cornell Daily Sun in college. This experience truly shaped her as journalist, giving her “a foundation in journalism, a love of ‘breaking news’ and a passion for writing.”

The summer after her sophomore year at Cornell, she applied for an internship at Life & Style and “fell in love”. She says, “I loved the weekly pace and the excitement of the celebrity journalism world.” From there, she completed two more internships, one at OK! Magazine, the other at Star Magazine. Her internship at Star led to a temp job and, soon after, an editorial assistant position.

It was her experience at Star that got her where she is today. “I never would have gotten my foot in the door with Star for a real job, had the intern coordinator/editorial assistant not liked me and started to groom me as her replacement.”

She now had the dream job, but not exactly in her dream location. “I greatly disliked NYC and wasn’t sure how I could possibly get out,” she explains. “I worked up the courage a year after graduation to tell my boss I would love to move… It pays to speak up! By the end of the day he had my move approved by HR and a few months later I made the switch [to LA]! I would not be able to the kind of reporting I’m doing now if I stayed in New York.”

A few short months after she had packed up and moved to LA, Cara was presented with an opportunity to work for Us Weekly, where she now writes as a senior reporter. Cara writes about everything from celebrity news to gossip to style. Her favorite subject? “I don’t write about them often, but I would read anything and everything on The Olsen Twins.” You can check out her archive at Us Weekly here.

Meanwhile, since November 2009, Sprunk has also served as the managing editor of Her Campus. “Being the managing editor for Her Campus has helped me be organized, have a greater vision for the brand, and inspires me to continue doing great things when I see the impact we have on our girls.”

Most recently, Cara was given the opportunity to help edit the Her Campus co-founders’ first book, The Her Campus Guide to College Life.  “The book was something I had dreamed of us doing for a long time at HC,” she says. “We did it on a quick turn around – it was a lot of working to kind of meld articles our writers had written before with new content on things we hadn’t covered as much. It all happened so fast! There were a lot of long nights and weekends in the process, but it was all totally worth it. “

Juggling two different positions at two hard-working publications would be difficult for most, but for Cara, it’s no hard thing. “I like to stay busy,” she explains. “I never stopped doing Her Campus after college, so the concept of coming home from work [at Us Weekly] and doing nothing was never really something I got used to. I just like working.”

Luckily, she has a bunch of people she can turn to for help, her bosses being her biggest source of inspiration. “Both of my bosses are incredibly hard-working women who are phenomenal at their jobs.”

From running around covering events to doing phone interviews with celebrities to meeting with sources, there is never a dull moment in Sprunk’s life. She feels that the best part of the job is working with so many different people. “In both positions I am relying on other people – my sources as a reporter and my writers as an editor. Maintaining good working relationships with both keep things running smoothly.” 

With so much experience under her belt, those looking to break into the business would be wise to follow her advice. Her biggest tip? “Get as much as experience as you can! The more you write, report and meet people – the better off you’ll be. People don’t forget people they like – so always make a good impression!”

Cara can be found on Twitter at @CaraSprunk.

5 Things You Can Learn from Lara Salahi’s Career in Journalism

Lara Salahi has a lot of journalism experience under her belt. She completed her undergraduate degree at Boston University before working on-air in different markets across the country. With a background in television and broadcast journalism, Salahi returned to Boston to complete her master’s degree in Health Communication at Emerson College, and work as a producer for ABC News‘ Medical Unit. She describes balancing graduate school and her job at ABC News at the time as “crazy, but worth it.”

She moved with ABC News to New York City for a few years, only to return to Boston when given the opportunity to work at the Boston Globe and cover the New England region for ABC News. “How could you not say yes to that?,” she says. “Plus, I knew I always wanted to be here in Massachusetts and Boston.”

Salahi recently started a new position at CBS Boston as a Digital Producer. She is working on integrating CBS Corporation‘s Boston hubs– 98.5 Sports Hub, WBZ NewsRadio 1030, and CBSBoston.com— into the world of digital and social media.

Perhaps her most noteworthy experience, Lara Salahi won a Pulitizer Prize for her part in the Boston Globe‘s coverage of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. Her efforts to report on such a serious and widespread story quickly and accurately are what make her an incredible journalist. There are many things you could learn from studying Lara’s work, but the following five are essential to know if you wish to become an accomplished journalist:

1. You never know when a story might happen. On the day of the 2013 Boston Marathon, Lara Salahi was working a regular 9 a.m shift in the Boston Globe newsroom, putting together photo galleries of the race with pictures sent in from those out in the field. She was wrapping up to go to lunch when her editors began running around and shouting about some sort of explosion at the Marathon. Everyone immediately sprung into action. Salahi stresses how important it is to be prepared in these situations, “When initial reports come in, it’s absolute chaos. It’s chaos in the newsroom. The number one goal as a journalist is clarity, just understanding and clarity.”

2. There is a difference between being first and being right. With so many reports circulating on the cusp of a newsworthy event, it can be difficult to figure out what to do with all the information. Salahi explains, “There’s this concept of being first and being right. Sometimes you have the Holy Grail, which is being first and being right. But the business side of us sort of thinks ‘Let’s just be first. Let’s just get something out there. Let’s do it.’ Then the journalist in us thinks, ‘Okay, let’s get things right’.” She likes to reference an article from Boston.com on “What Twitter Got Wrong During the Week Following Last Year’s Boston Marathon” to exemplify just how quickly rumors spread and the importance of being right, versus being first.

3. Following a story strictly on social media can cause a skewed perception of what really happened. When describing how quickly rumors spread on twitter in the hours after the Marathon bombing, Lara says, “If you were just watching Twitter, or even a 24 hour news station like CNN or something, you were just thinking that Boston has turned into a war zone. You had no idea what was happening.” It’s important to not believe all of the reports posted on social media.

4. Go straight to the source for the best and most accurate information. When asked how she goes about figuring out what is true when reporting a story, Salahi’s answer is simple: go straight to the source. “A lot of us [reporters] have good relationships with officials. Sources are so important. They’re cultivated over time, over confidence. And, even if you’re just somebody who’s starting out, I think trusting your instincts—if something is too good to be true or too quick—those are all really important.”

5. Covering certain stories can change you. Stories with serious or difficult subject matter, such as the Boston Marathon bombing, can have a lasting effect on the way you handle things in the future. When it comes to the bombing, Salahi says, “It is something that I hope we’ll never see again here. It has so impacted, just, every large event that I ever go to, and probably ever will go to, and probably ever take my kids to now.” She also feels covering this story has greatly affected the way she reports on other events. “I think I’ll never look at a story the same again,” she says, “Just seeing how people were impacted… Stories don’t always have a happy ending; sometimes there is no ending… I see reporting differently now.”

Featured image courtesy of The Boston Globe YouTube Channel

The Chickens Have Flown the Coop at Emmanuel College

…Or at least the eggs have. Since the start of this semester, eggs have been somewhat of a rare commodity in the Yawkey Student Dining Room. The station where students could once get a variety of made-to-order eggs (in any manner from whites to fried to sunny side up) now sports a sign that reads “Due to egg shortages caused by avian flu, we’re offering delicious options other than eggs”.

The reaction among students and faculty has been mixed. As someone who normally goes for a bacon, egg, and cheese in the morning, Rachel Lebel (’17) finds the shortage annoying.  She thinks it’s “weird that there are no eggs at the Grill, but there are scrambled [at Comforts], and eggs at the Muddy.” When asked if she knew why the egg shortage was happening, she said ” I think the eggs had the flu, at least that’s what the sign said.”

Other staff and students appear unaffected. When asked about the subject, Officer Joseph Woods of Campus Safety admitted, “I never really eat in the caf. I only get coffee.”

Connor Barr (’19) was similarly unfazed, as he poured syrup on his pancakes. He explained, “I’m a freshman, so I never had the eggs in the first place.”

Adelino “Ace” Cruz, a member of the Muddy River staff, was able to describe the situation in greater detail.  He claimed that the disease plaguing the chickens is affecting the college’s ability to get orders in. “We’re trying to make it fair and distribute the eggs we get on both sides,” he says. “But the companies are limiting orders to a certain number per school.” Put simply, “We definitely need some more eggs.”

This isn’t just a localized issue. All around the country, egg prices have been increasing. According to an article in USA Today, the price of wholesale chicken eggs has spiked drastically due to the more than 49 million chickens and turkeys that have died or been euthanized since the flu spread from Pacific Northwest to Midwest farms.

When will this issue be resolved and how soon can students and staff expect to once again see the Grill serving fried eggs? Only time will tell.

Images provided by Robin Fortado, General Manager of Bon Appetit Dining Services

Teen Heartthrob, Justin Bieber, Arrested for Miami Drag Racing

Teen pop sensation Justin Bieber was arrested at 4:13 AM on Thursday, January 23rd, 2014 for allegedly drag racing with a friend in Miami Beach, Florida.

According to police reports, the 19-year-old was driving a yellow Lamborghini down the 300 block of 41st street, followed by two black SUVs, when police took notice of the alleged race. Competing with a red Lamborghini, it is believed that Bieber was driving 55-60 MPH in a 30 MPH residential area.

When pulled over by Officer Medina of the Miami Beach Police Department, it’s reported that Bieber appeared to be under the influence.

According to the officer, his breath smelled of alcohol, his eyes were bloodshot, and his movements slow. He also reportedly swore at the officer upon being stopped, asking “Why the f*** are you doing this?”.

Officer Medina then asked Bieber to step out of his vehicle in order to assess his sobriety. Upon doing so, Bieber reportedly “kept going into his pockets” and was asked to place his hands on his car for a patdown.  

The singer repeatedly failed to comply with the officer’s orders, allegedly continuing to swear at and question Officer Medina. After receiving warning that he would placed under arrest if he continued to resist, Bieber reportedly turned around to face the officer and was swiftly placed under arrest.

Bieber was said to have been placed into custody with no further resistance. However, on his way to the station, he supposedly denied being intoxicated and mentioned he was on his way back from the recording studio.

According to his police report, Bieber ultimately failed the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests given to him at the Miami Beach Police Department holding facility.

It was later discovered that Bieber had also been driving with an expired license. This was added to the charges placed against him, which included driving under the influence and resist without violence.

Hey There!

Welcome to Seen/Said/Read!

My name is Sammy Martin and I’m a junior English: Communication, Media, & Cultural Studies student at Emmanuel College. I’ve created this blog as a space to share my writing assignments for Introduction to Journalism this semester, as well as any other musings I see, hear, and read in the media.

A little bit of background on me: I grew up in a small farm town in Northern Connecticut with my parents and two sisters, Abigail (22) and Sarah (17). Growing up in the tiniest town known to man, it took me exactly 6 minutes to drive to school each morning and I graduated high school with only 68 kids in my class. While I’ll always love my quaint little home by the airport, I definitely consider myself a city girl and am glad to call Boston my home away from home while at college.

At Emmanuel, I enjoy being super involved on campus. I’m an Admissions Ambassador (aka tour guide), Orientation Leader, Campus Correspondent for Her Campus Emmanuel (more on this later), Honors student, and thespian. I also like to stay on top of things academically and have been a Dean’s List recipient every semester so far. #HumbleBrag

I enrolled in Introduction to Journalism this semester both because it’s a component of the Media Practice requirement for my major and because I’m truly interested in the subject. Since the beginning of my freshman year of high school, I’ve had a passion for fashion, and with that, a passion for fashion journalism. Jobless and bored the summer after I started college, I decided to create a fashion blog. For the past year and a half, I have grown and developed my blog (backyardbeauty.tumblr.com) into something I’m really proud of.

Backyard Beauty has opened a lot of doors for me in the past year when it comes to my career goals. Since adding “fashion, beauty, and lifestyle blogger” to my resume, I’ve received a job as a Sales Associate at Charlotte Russe, one of my favorite clothing stores, and founded Emmanuel’s chapter of Her Campus, the #1 global community for college women. With these experiences under my belt and a degree in English: Communication, I plan to work as a journalist for a fashion publication after graduation, the dream being Glamour, Seventeen, or InStyle. 

Now that you know way more than you probably wanted to about me, I’m going to sign off. I hope you like the articles and assignments I’ll be posting. Stay tuned!