On Saturday, I attended Her Campus's National Pre-Collegiette Conference at Northeastern University with one of my best friends, Alex! Boston is less than an hour away from me, so we decided to drive in. The conference started at 9:30, and we got there a little bit after it started! Unfortunately, it was freezing cold and raining on Saturday. However, that didn't stop us from dressing up in adorable sundresses!
Once we got there, we enjoyed delicious Maia Greek yogurt. We both chose vanilla bean! We also got goody bags that had tons of fabulous treats such as a notebook, two pens, nail polish, a bag of Popchips, a cup, a raffle ticket, and more.
The conference started out with an opening introduction by Windsor, one of the co-founders of Her Campus. Throughout the day, we traveled between two different buildings for the conference. After the opening introduction, we headed over to the other building for the first panel. There were three time blocks, and there were three different panels to choose from for each time block. The first panel I chose was study tips for freshman year. I love learning about new ways to study and get work done, so I was really interested by that panel.
I attended another panel right after that one. The second panel I chose was about how to eat healthy in college. This seminar was super helpful because we all always hear about the "freshman fifteen" and ordering late-night snacks! I learned great tips on how to choose healthier food choices in college that still taste delicious.
Something that was really cool was outside of the seminars were tables that had water, Popchips, Neuro waters, and Hint waters. It was nice to grab one of those before or after a seminar if you got thirsty or hungry! That was my first time trying Popchips, Neuro water, and Hint water. They were all absolutely delicious! There was also a "social currency" station outside of the seminars. If you posted on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook about the conference using the hashtag #HStoHC, you got extra raffle tickets to use to win one of the great prizes! If any of you follow my blog Twitter, that explains why I had about a million tweets.
After the second panel was lunch. We headed over to the first building and ate from a buffet catered by Chipotle! That was my first time ever having Chipotle, and I have to admit that it was really good. I was a huge fan of the guacamole and chips!
Lunch was followed by the last panel. The last panel I chose was about how to get an internship in college. I loved this panel because I feel that internships are crucial to have in building experience, especially when in college. I learned a lot of great tips!
When all of the panels were over, we heard a motivational speech from Jessica Bashelor, the founder of The Handlebar in Boston. Jess told us all about her life and how she applied to four colleges and only got into one of them, her safety school, which happened to be Northeastern. She changed her major multiple times and ended up graduating with a degree in biology. However, she decided that she didn't want to do anything with biology. She continued to be a waitress until she came up with the brilliant idea of opening up a cycling studio. After coming up with a business plan and finding investors, she was finally able to open up her dream business. Her studio is now rather successful, and she recently opened up a second location in the Fenway neighborhood! Jess taught all of us girls there that your "safety school" just might be the best thing that's ever happened to you. Hearing her speak about her passion for her business made me know for a fact that I want to open up my own business one day!
There was a fashion show after Jess's keynote that was directed by Windsor and stressed the do's and don'ts of fashion in college. It was really funny and really helpful! The raffle took place after the fashion show. There were multiple winners, and the prizes included Chipotle gift cards, LeSportsac bags, two Intel devices, and a pair of Jack Rogers! Intel took care of the technology parts of the conference, which was awesome. Obviously I put all of my raffle tickets into the Jack Rogers raffle, but unfortunately, I didn't win. I was so happy for all of the girls that won the prizes though because they were amazing prizes!
After the fashion show, we had a little blogger meet up. I met some fabulous bloggers at the conference, which was really awesome because I've never met a blogger in real life before! I wish I got a picture, but my phone was running on 4% battery at that time from using it so much to tweet and everything. So here is a tip of advice for you: if you ever go to some type of conference like this, be sure to bring your phone charger with you because your phone will die very quickly!!!
The conference ended at about 4:30, and I was sad to leave. I had a blast there and cannot wait to attend as much Her Campus events in the future as I can!
