Internship Spotlight: Cristina Vintimilla

Hi, I'm Cristina Vintimilla, a junior studying journalism in the Lawrence Herbert School of Communication. This semester I'm interning in New York City for the first time, something I've dreamed of doing since my freshmen year. I'm currently a Fashion Editorial Intern at Stylight, an online fashion website.

The office is located in my favorite part of the city - Soho. The streets are filled with small, trendy boutiques and Instagram-worthy cafes. I travel into the city three times a week and take classes at Hofstra on the other days. Fashion is something I've always been interested in, and this internship has allowed me to get a closer look into the industry. A typical day at Stylight consists of a morning editorial meeting, where we discuss what topics we'll be writing about that day. Then, sometimes I'll make myself breakfast in the kitchen, typically milk and cereal, or walk straight to my desk for a day filled with writing. 

Throughout the day I write fashion shopping guides for the website, which are meant to inspire and entertain readers as they shop. My topics vary from "4 Reasons to buy a North Face vest" to "How to Style Western jackets" and "Different Types of High Heels." I'm so grateful to work with an amazing editor who helps me with my writing along the way. I receive instant feedback on my articles, which helps me learn about myself and improve the quality of my writing.

NYC office

My favorite part of this internship is our weekly Friday meetings. Stylight's headquarters are in Munich, Germany so we use Google video chat to communicate with our international colleagues. As a team, we sit on the couch and  participate in the meeting using a webcam. This is when all of the departments at Stylight including marketing, business development, engineering, public relations etc. share their thoughts for the week. I find this so interesting because I get an inside scoop on what's happening in Munich. I'm an open-minded person and learning about the different departments excites me and makes me realize how important each department is in making Stylight succeed. Getting this internship was possible due to the experiences I got as a student writer for Hofstra's online magazine, HerCampus and of course, the proximity to New York City. I plan on doing a lot more internships, and I'm excited to see what's next. As of now, I will be studying abroad in Amsterdam during the Spring 2016 semester, so I  will keep you guys updated from there!  

True Life: I'm in Honors College

Laura Bennett is a junior from Great Neck, NY majoring in Physics and Biochemistry. She was invited to join Hofstra's Honors College as a first-year student and has been enjoying it ever since! Let's hear about it in Laura's own words.

When I first received my acceptance letter to Hofstra University, I also received an invitation to the Honors College, which has truly impacted my college experience in more ways than I could imagine. When choosing my residence hall for my first year, I decided to live in honors housing, where I met so many great people including my best friend and future roommate.

Before coming to Hofstra, I was concerned that my grades might suffer as a result of taking honors classes, but for once, I’m very happy to be wrong. I take one or two of my classes for honors credit every semester, and I can honestly say that if anything, my grades in these classes have improved because of my honors involvement. It is little bit of extra work, but it usually extends the scope of the course, which really deepens my understanding of the material.

Outside of the classroom, there are so many fun (free) trips run by the Honors College that go into New York City on a regular basis. I’ve received invitations to everything from Broadway shows to Yankees games, and it’s always a blast! If you have the opportunity, I’d highly recommend going on as many trips as possible (and grabbing free coffee and snacks from the Honors College office!)

Summer in Spain: Mehrab's work with the Atlantis Project

Mehrab Ahsan is a junior from New Hyde Park, New York majoring in Biochemistry. He is currently spending 3 weeks in Spain shadowing doctors and learning about a foreign health care system. He gave us an update of how he is spending his time abroad!

Atlantis Project

I'm part of the Atlantis Project and it's basically a program where I'm shadowing doctors in hospitals in Toledo, Spain, watching various surgeries which I wouldn't be able to see in the United States! I get to see how the Spanish healthcare system works, as well as the fact that I'm teaching doctors how to improve their English in biweekly sessions.

Segovia 

Spanish Paella

Streets of Segovia 

Alongside all of that, I've made friends with everyone in my program and have been able to travel around lots of places in Spain like Madrid, Segovia, the ancient Roman city of Spain, and have experienced all the awesome things that the Spanish culture has to offer.

True Life: I'm part of Greek life

Sheila Springer is a senior from Alameda, California majoring in Theater Arts. She shares her experience joining a sorority as a first year student.

Hofstra University has seven sororities, nine fraternities, and ten multicultural fraternities and sororities. As a rule, first semester freshmen are not eligible to join Greek life. Any semester after that, full-time undergraduate students with a GPA of 2.3 or higher can take part in recruitment to join one of the chapters here on campus. 

Each organization serves on a council - Panhellenic, Inter-Fraternity or Multicultural Fraternity Sorority Council. Greek life participates in a number of events around campus including, but not limited to Relay for Life, Homecoming, the Leadership Conference, multiple Community Service events, Greek Week, Information Sessions and more!

I am in Alpha Phi, one of the sororities on campus. I joined second semester of my first year. In high school, I never thought I would be in a sorority. In fact, when I called my parents to tell them I was going out for recruitment they were extremely surprised. I took a risk not really knowing what Greek life fully entailed or if I would like it. I can confidently say that the risk was worth it. My life would not be the same without Alpha Phi. I have met some of my closest friends and have had some of the best moments of my college career with these women. And this isn't limited to my organization - in every organization I see dedicated members who are committed to service, education, philanthropy, community, leadership, and brotherhood/sisterhood. I am proud to represent Alpha Phi and Hofstra Greek life and I encourage everyone to check it out, you may find your home away from home.

WRHU takes home 1st place

Over the weekend, WRHU (Radio Hofstra University) members and Pride Guide Juliana Spano took a trip up to Saratoga Springs, NY to accept 1st place in the Bill Leaf Memorial Award for Best Regularly Scheduled Local News program.

WRHU's Newsline is a 30-minute live newscast that airs weekdays at 5:30 PM. The best newscast is submitted every year to the New York State Associated Press Association.

Juliana Spano at the AP award ceremony.

WRHU was also ranked #1 college radio station in the U.S. by The Princeton Review. Listen to WRHU anytime with our live stream!

Hofstra Pride in Alabama

Pride Guide Carly Gasiewski is a junior public relations and dance major who recently visited Auburn, Alabama. Here, she discusses some of her observations made while visiting a new college campus.

Over the spring break, I finally took a trip to visit my best friend down in Alabama at Auburn University. This was my first time in the South in general, so you can imagine that I completely had no idea what I was about to be immersed in. However, I found that the most interesting part of my trip was noticing the differences and similarities between a school like Auburn and us here at Hofstra.

For one, when I say college, I actually mean college town. Auburn, Alabama is all about one thing, and that is the university. Coffee shops, super markets, clothing stores, everyone associates themselves with the university in some way (even the Wal-Mart had a university gift shop.) Everywhere you look you see “Go Tigers!” or “This is War Eagle Country,” and really any other phrase that would associate with the school and or their athletic teams, especially football. I have to say, this was something amazing to experience. It really gives you a sense of a connected community and gives you something enormous to be a part of.

A major thing that also differs from our lives up here in New York is the lifestyle on campus. I know personally, I am constantly running around on campus, eating meals in class, and carrying my laptop with me everywhere so I can do more work. However, when I was at Auburn, this did not seem to be the norm. Everyone seemed to calmly walk to class, had time to play football outside or to sit down with friends, and everyone would even wait in long lines for coffee (which was extremely difficult to be part of, being a New Yorker!)

However, what I loved was how Auburn had their own sense of pride, just like we have here at Hofstra. Whether it was the football team, a sorority or frat, being alumni or just an Auburn student in general, everyone took pride in being a Tiger which reminded me of my Hofstra Pride.

Photo credit: Carly's friend & current Auburn Tiger!

Hello from Amsterdam!

Ashley Mungiguerra is a junior journalism major and Pride Guide from Texas currently studying abroad in Europe.

This semester I am studying abroad in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, as part of Hofstra’s exchange program with the University of Amsterdam (UvA). Unlike most study abroad programs, there are five students from Hofstra at UvA and several Dutch students studying at Hofstra!

I have only been in Amsterdam for a few weeks but it didn’t take long for me to fall in love with my new city. Going to school just outside of New York City, I assumed I could adapt to anything, but the two cities have very little in common.

Rachel's Hofstra in LA experience

This past winter break I had the opportunity of a lifetime to be a part of the inaugural Hofstra in LA program. I was one of 12 students chosen within the Lawrence Herbert School of Communication to attend the four-day program in LA.

Meet the Pride Guides: Rachel Sherman

Rachel is an early childhood/elementary education and linguistics major. She will be student teaching in three different schools during her last undergraduate semester here at Hofstra.

Fighting the finals frenzy with Stressbusters

It’s that time of year again when everyone is excited for winter break, but also stressing about all the finals that are quickly approaching! It is extremely easy to lose yourself in the stress of finals week, so in an effort to help, Hofstra provides their annual Stressbusters events to all students!

Available December 11-17, Hofstra’s Office of Student Leadership & Activities will be hosting a bunch of events:
• Free Grab & Go Breakfast as you run to the library or a final
• A total 90’s Throwback Thursday with a Bop It! Tournament
• Pet Therapy, where dogs are brought in just for you to play with and pet your stress away!
• Free professional massages to work those stress knots out!
• Late Night Breakfast, which can be argued as the biggest event at Hofstra
• Study areas that provide you with free tutoring, writing revisions and help, and of course, free food!

Besides all of these great events being provided, remember to take care of yourself while studying as well. We all know having a lot of studying to do can be extremely overwhelming, but don’t forget to stay healthy. Get some sleep, manage your time, remember to eat full meals and take some well-needed breaks (which you can do by attending these awesome Stressbusters events.)

Good luck with finals and enjoy your winter break!

By Carly Gasiewski, junior public relations and dance major

Meet the Pride Guides: Caroline Navarra

Meet Pride Guide Caroline Navarra, a sophomore who has already been involved with some great philanthropy work. Check out what she has to say!

Roll call! What are you thankful for?

As the Thanksgiving holiday weekend is approaching, we wanted to find out what exactly Hofstra Pride Guides are thankful for! Here's what they said.

Emily Levine, a sophomore public relations major and drama minor, says that she is thankful for her education here at Hofstra. Emily is also grateful for her supportive parents and to have great friends here at school.

This Thanksgiving, Melanie Rainone, a junior journalism and creative writing major, is thankful to have a fun job that she doesn’t mind coming to a couple times a week, and “that makes waking up at 6am on Saturdays not so bad!” Melanie is also thankful for her parents and their willingness to send her to a school in a different state!

Senior public relations major Emily Lenguadoro is thankful that after an extremely busy semester, it is finally time for a well needed Thanksgiving break, so she can return to campus well rested and prepared for the end of the semester!

Ariana Drauch, a junior health and physical education major, tells about how she is thankful for a supportive family, friends, boyfriend and classmates, and that she is able to have the opportunity to take control of her future through a great school like Hofstra.

Finally, like most of us Joe Ibraham, who is a senior journalism and marketing major with a graphic design minor, is simply thankful for his family and the opportunity to take this time off to spend time with them!

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?

By Carly Gasiewski, junior public relations and dance major

Pride Guide, Pride Pals founder brings exciting speaker to campus

Meet Pride Guide Jordyn Mayerhofer, the founder and president of Pride Pals. She’s been working hard to get an amazing guest to come to campus.

Jordyn Mayerhofer

This Friday, November 21 at 6:00 p.m., Pride Pals and the rest of the Hofstra community will welcome Maysoon Zayid, writer, actress, and hilarious standup comedian, to the Monroe Lecture Hall stage.

“Just over a year ago, I began a club called Pride Pals. We work to foster one on one friendships between students with and without disabilities, as well as promote disability activism on campus.” Jordyn said. “This semester we have really been focusing on disability activism, and we couldn’t think of a better way to do so than by bringing a well-known comedian to campus.”

Maysoon Zayid

Maysoon was a full-time On-Air Contributor to Countdown with Keith Olbermann, has recently appeared on the Queen Latifah Show, spoke at TEDWomen2013, as well as appeared on Comedy Central, PBS, CNN, HBO, MTV, ABS, and BBC.

She was also a delegate at the 2008 Democratic National Convention and named one of 21 leaders of the 21st century by Women’s Enews, is the founder of Maysoon’s Kids, an education and wellness program for disabled and wounded refugee children. Maysoon, who has cerebral palsy, was a 2013 honoree of United Cerebral Palsy of NYC’s Women Who Care Awards.

Having the opportunity to bring such an influential speaker to Hofstra’s campus is absolutely monumental. The event is open to the public and anyone is welcome to join in the experience. And admission is FREE! Maysoon will take the stage at 6pm on Friday, November 21st in the Monroe Lecture Hall.

We would love for students, friends, family, and prospective students to attend this wonderful hour of laughs from an amazing female leader.

By Jordyn Mayerhofer and Casey Madsen

Meet the Pride Guides: Ashley Mungiguerra

Meet Pride Guide and junior Ashley Mungiguerra, who hails from Dallas, Texas and studies journalism and political science. Let's hear about her decision to come to Hofstra!