Transferring schools may not be the easiest process, but it can have high rewards for a college student who is looking for change. The intent of transferring schools is to find a school that suits a student and their interests better than the school they currently attend. Once a student gets accepted to a new school, they have to get acclimated to a different campus, different faculty, and different students. Chloe Trepanier, a junior at UMass Amherst majoring in Communication, is a transfer student from UMass Boston who demonstrates the transfer experience and all of it’s perks.
Chloe made the choice to apply to UMass Amherst after her first year of school at UMass Boston. She studied Communication there, but was not in love with any of the classes offered, as most of the Communication classes focused on interpersonal communication. UMass Boston is also a commuter school, so she spent very little time on campus and would usually go home straight after class. Chloe realized she needed a change based off of her interests and convenience, so she sent in an application to UMass Amherst.
Getting into UMass Amherst was the start of a whole new college experience for Chloe. She settled into Butterfield, a Sophomore dorm in Central, where she connected with old friends from high school and made new friends there, too. She says the move initially reminded her of being a freshman again. It seems as though it didn’t take long for Chloe to get the hang of her new school. Some of the first steps she took to get more involved with the Amherst area and campus life at UMass was going to the Activities Expo, checking out the Campus Pulse, and browsing Career Connect.
Chloe struck her first internship at Amherst Media through UMass’ Career Services resource, Career Connect. She saw that they were looking for a social media intern, so she took a chance, applied, and got the gig. With Amherst Media, she is responsible for getting stories, news, and events that are happening in Amherst and pushing that information out using social media to reach other media users. She interprets the analytics of the posts to get a better understanding about their audience. Occasionally, she is also asked to make footage for the company which gets played on public access. This internship has provided Chloe opportunities to explore various paths to take with Communication, as well as given her the chance to get creative with making media.
Along with her internship at Amherst Media, Chloe makes Facebook posts for UMass’ newspaper, the Daily Collegian. Posting for the Collegian’s Facebook has provided her with answers to the question, “I want this to be seen, how do I do that?” Despite her major in Communication, working for the Collegian’s social media infuses Communication, Journalism, and Marketing. Some of the skills she’s gained through this are: ways to develop professional and clever posts, represent a program and their interests, and ability to analyze the viewership of posts. What makes Chloe’s story interesting is that she started as a writer for the Collegian in the Arts and Living section. She went to one of their staff meetings at the beginning of the semester and heard there was an opening for a social media assistant. This was another time where Chloe took advantage of an opportunity to match her interests with her career goals.
Chloe furthers her skills in Communication as the Pinterest Director for Her Campus, an online magazine directed towards female college students. As Pinterest Director, she posts articles and writes for them. It requires a lot of time and high quality content, but Chloe has been working for Her Campus for over a year now. This job has even given her the chance to go to New York for a Her Campus conference. Traveling is an excellent opportunity to explore what a field or job may look like outside of the university “bubble.”
Communication is such a versatile major, and Chloe’s skills in Communication shine in areas outside of the classroom. She’s a part of the theater guild at UMass Amherst as the Assistant Tech Director. With this she helps out with sound, lighting, costumes, and coordination for UMass productions, including the recent production of Frankenstein. The beauty of being a part of the theater guild is all of the relationships she has developed with others in the theater guild community. A program like the theater guild allows students of all majors to utilize their best skills to collaborate on one performance, and Chloe definitely brings a strong set of skills to the table. Chloe has found that UMass Amherst makes it easier to find and make connections based off of interests because of all of the various ways to get involved.
With the repertoire that Chloe has, it seems as though she can go into all sorts of career paths. When asked what her dream job would be, though, Chloe has aspirations of working in the publishing industry, specifically with magazines. She wants to work “behind the scenes” by marketing and generating content using social media for a magazine company. If not magazines, she would be interested in the production of a television show doing technical work. For the rest of her time at UMass Amherst, Chloe hopes to utilize everything that the Communication department has to offer, like the Cage, the production studio, variation in classes, and collaboration with other Communication majors. Through trying new things, setting goals, and making new connections, Chloe has been able to shape potential career paths that suit her interests and skills with Communication.
Written by Emma Tavolieri