Archive for the ‘onTalent’ Category

Coda: The Next Dance

Tuesday, August 9th, 2022

Growing up as an Asian-American Jewish person in New York City, my multiethnic heritage granted me glimpses into cultural spaces that don’t often overlap. My favorite childhood outings with my mother were to local Japanese grocery stores and bookstores, and I regularly attended my local synagogue for Hebrew school and Shabbat services. Over the years I have developed a deep appreciation for my mixed background, but there have been times where I have felt a gnawing sense of imposter syndrome in these spaces, as if I don’t truly belong. While traveling in Japan, for instance, locals would sometimes start speaking to me in Japanese, assuming that I, like my mother, spoke the language. I was ashamed by my inability to respond, giving only blank stares and uttering simple apologetic phrases. As a young teen, I became aware that I was often the only nonwhite person in the room at my synagogue. Because my physical appearance is predominantly Asian, subtle looks and underhanded comments from others, albeit rare, made me feel like an outsider to the Jewish community. Aside from my background, given New York City’s bustling and diverse nature, I have grown accustomed to living alongside many different types of people with radically different life experiences. My own experiences, along with the city’s accepting, ‘anything goes’ culture, have led me to view inclusivity as one of my most important values, and one I hope to embody in everything I do. 

Me and my mom traveling around Japan in 2018

When starting out as a DJ, my intimidation could not be entirely attributed to my newcomer status. My first time attending a DJ’s Streetbeat set at the radio station, I walked into a room of seven white men. Their kind, welcoming demeanor eased my nerves, but it was hard to shake the feeling that my race and gender made me an outsider. After all, the majority demographic that I encountered at the radio station that night was no coincidence. 

By taking charge of the music, DJs hold a lot of power as the person responsible for setting the atmosphere of the party space. Accordingly, female DJs break the narrative established by fraternity life, which heavily influences the college party scene by skewing power towards men. Typically, fraternities host parties in their frat houses while sororities are prohibited from throwing parties. This arrangement discreetly places power in the hands of fraternity members, who can control the layout of the party and are often in charge of distributing drinks. Women may feel pressure to comply with fraternity members because they are visitors in the space and therefore lack the same sense of control. 

With a female DJ behind the booth, men no longer dominate the party atmosphere. As an Asian American, I further hope to break the narrative of predominant whiteness within most party spaces at college. I aim to prioritize people of color and women during my sets, and like to showcase female-forward music from around the world, either produced by a woman or featuring feminine vocals. Everyone deserves to party safely and comfortably, and to feel represented by the space around them. I also hope to pave the way for other female, nonwhite, and queer DJs. There were always a few other women in the Streetbeat community, but never any nonwhite women. I remember how intimidating it was to join Streetbeat and hope that my presence in the group encourages other nonwhite women to join. Changing party culture is bigger than any one person, but it starts by showing up in new ways, and giving others the courage to do the same. 

DJing at a concert highlighting Northwestern bands and DJs, for students and by students

This same desire for inclusivity fuels my post-grad aspirations. I fell in love with English literature and creative writing classes at college, so in addition to continuing to DJ on the weekends, I hope to create a more inclusive culture in the publishing industry by becoming a book editor for underrepresented authors. Storytelling through books has a unique ability to share experiences and spread empathy, and my goal as a book editor is to share the stories of those who are too often overlooked by the mainstream. 

Pursuing my goals will surely not be easy, requiring perseverance, hard work, and dedication. However, I am willing to put in the work, knowing I am on the right path because my pursuits align with my values. Aside from one’s career path, personal values influence nearly every aspect of life, from relationships to spiritual life to daily routines. When faced with uncertainty or deciding upon next steps, turning to your values can help you determine what to do. In fact, you likely embody your values already in ways you don’t even realize. If you’re not sure what your values are, take a look at what is important to you and the things in your life that you care about the most. Coming into college as a freshman I knew I liked music and wanted to take more English classes, but I couldn’t imagine the aspirations I have now as a DJ and book publisher. By taking a moment to clarify what matters to you the most, you can empower both yourself and those around you to move in accordance with one’s own personal values.


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By Lu Poteshman

Lu is a rising senior at Northwestern University, where she studies English Literature with a minor in Art, Theory and Practice. She is passionate about all things music and art, and loves to paint, draw, design things, write creatively, cook and explore in her free time. She is currently working towards her dreams of being a book editor by day and DJ by night.


For over 20 years, the Campus Clipper has been offering awesome student discounts in NYC,  from the East Side to Greenwich Village. Along with inspiration, the company offers students a special coupon booklet and the Official Student Guide, which encourages them to discover new places in the city and save money on food, clothing, and services.  

At the Campus Clipper, not only do we help our interns learn new skills, make money, and create wonderful e-books, we give them a platform to teach others. Check our website for more student savings and watch our YouTube video showing off some of New York City’s finest students during the Welcome Week of 2015.

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Harmony: Gigs, Glory, and Growth

Monday, August 1st, 2022

Walking home on the last day of junior year classes, a chilly late-May day, I received a 500 dollar loan bad credit by email notification with the subject line “oh and another thing:” from my creative writing professor. I stopped in my tracks to open the message, which read, “surround yourself with friends who will never let you forget that you are an artist.” 

I smiled, remembering the conversation that we had just wrapped up in our last class, which she had reserved as an “Ask Me Anything” session. Her email was an addendum to the response she had given for my question about how to manage burnout in a creative career. She shared advice about maintaining artistic momentum, and even told us that her students actually inspire her. 

As I continued my walk home, I reflected on the class, which had ended up being one of my favorites during my time at Northwestern. Beyond my talented classmates, the interesting topics, and hard work I put into the assignments, it was really the professor that made the class stand out. I had never met a professor so invested in her students and openly emotional with her words of support. Through office hour meetings where we discussed a lengthy short story piece I was working on, I became inspired by her creatively-driven career path as a novelist and creative writing professor. She encouraged us to take risks and dive deep into our writing, and as a result it was in this class that I discovered my voice as a writer and an artist. I dove into my writing, embracing the work that I really loved to do, and the effect rippled out into my other passion as I began to pursue DJing more seriously.

The summer after my sophomore year, I DJed every week during my late-night radio shows. Once I overcame the initial technical difficulties and got the hang of the equipment, my time at the radio station became sacred to me. I loved being able to practice alone while also knowing that there was a small audience of listeners somewhere out there. All by myself in the studio, it was easy to forget about the people tuning in to my show, but one night, to my delight, I received a call on the radio phone line in the middle of my set. A listener let me know how much they enjoyed my set, and asked about the names of the last couple of songs I had played. 

As I gained confidence behind the DJ booth at the station, I began to invite a couple of friends to come hang out at the station during my set. Some would talk and browse the station as I played, while others would peer over my shoulder and dance. When the fall semester of junior year started up, I received an email one day announcing a party hosted by the radio station and asking if anyone was interested in DJing. I responded to the email, and by the end of the day I had a forty-five minute time slot lined up for that coming weekend. 

A picture from my first time DJing at a party

In the days leading up to the party, nerves were running high and I wasn’t quite sure how to prepare. At the radio station, I would just show up and try things out for an hour, but for a roomful of people I wanted to be more prepared. I listened to a bunch of music and meticulously picked out songs for my set, then I went over to my friend’s house to practice mixing with his DJ board. On the day of, just an hour before the party started, I decided that I hated my whole set and redid all of my song selections. I felt underprepared and had no idea what was going to happen, but there was nothing left to do except go and try my best. So, I put on my favorite outfit and headed over to the party. I was the first person slated to perform, so as people started to trickle in, I put on the first song and began to adjust the settings to my liking. As I made my first song transition, muscle memory kicked in, and I realized that all those hours at the radio station paid off, and I knew exactly what to do – in fact, I could do it almost without thinking! 

All of a sudden, the dance floor was full. I could see how the crowd responded to the music and tried to play off of their energy, layering upbeat songs to get the crowd moving with slower songs to give people a breather. I was nervous that my disco house tracks wouldn’t land because they’re not the typical Top 40 hits you hear at a college party, but I was delighted to see that people were really dancing and enjoying themselves. I left the DJ booth feeling a huge sense of success, and received lots of compliments, thumbs up, and smiles from friends and strangers alike. As the next DJ took over, I slipped into the crowd with a smile that would linger for days to come, and danced the rest of the night away.


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By Lu Poteshman

Lu is a rising senior at Northwestern University, where she studies English Literature with a minor in Art, Theory and Practice. She is passionate about all things music and art, and loves to paint, draw, design things, write creatively, cook and explore in her free time. She is currently working towards her dreams of being a book editor by day and DJ by night.


For over 20 years, the Campus Clipper has been offering awesome student discounts in NYC,  from the East Side to Greenwich Village. Along with inspiration, the company offers students a special coupon booklet and the Official Student Guide, which encourages them to discover new places in the city and save money on food, clothing, and services.  

At the Campus Clipper, not only do we help our interns learn new skills, make money, and create wonderful e-books, we give them a platform to teach others. Check our website for more student savings and watch our YouTube video showing off some of New York City’s finest students during the Welcome Week of 2015.

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Crescendo: Finding my Muse

Monday, July 18th, 2022

“Who you surround yourself with is who you become.” This concept, also known as the law of attraction, goes back at least to Confucius in the 6th century BC. All these centuries later, its wisdom has stood the test of time and often comes to mind when I think about my friends in college, who have become a second family of sorts. In college my friends and I live, eat, study, and relax together, and through these shared experiences I have come to understand how many ways there are to live by one’s own values and give back. 

Growing up under my parents’ roof, my ideas of giving back were based solely on more traditional forms of community support – volunteering at a soup kitchen, taking care of my family members, and giving money to charity. However, as I settled into college life, I began to see just how many forms giving back can take on, and how personal the best forms of giving back can be. Because of the many obligations that make time precious in college, the framework of volunteering that I turned to growing up no longer fit in my life. Instead, I learned how impactful it is to integrate personal passions into activities that align with one’s own values. 

It wasn’t until I got to college that I realized how much my practices surrounding personal values were enforced by my parents. They instilled the value of hard work by encouraging me to practice violin every day, study hard in school, and diligently seek out volunteer opportunities and part-time jobs. Furthermore, I grew up in a Jewish household and spent lots of time going to Hebrew school, services, and the youth group at my synagogue, where I learned about the Jewish principles of repairing the world and helping those around you. 

In a college environment, friendship is more than an outlet for fun – my friends are my support system, and their values make a difference. According to the research of social psychologist Dr. David McClelland of Harvard, the people you associate with determine 95% of your success or failure in life. My friends at college couldn’t care less whether I go to Friday night services or practice violin every day, but they do inspire me through their practices of spreading good in the community and beyond. 

One of my friends is very passionate about composting – just by listening to him talk about reducing personal waste, it is easy to see how deeply he cares about the environment. Over the course of this past school year, his gentle preaching has convinced all of his friends to start composting, including myself. I see the impact of his benevolence whenever I go over to our mutual friends’ houses and see the compost buckets that he personally distributed. He even gave one of our friends a hand-painted bucket covered in smiley faces and flowers. Although people too often forgo cutting down on personal waste because doing so can feel futile, my friend’s impact has been prolific due to his influence on others, and will continue to multiply as I pass on his wisdom by encouraging my own friends to compost.

Another friend of mine is passionate about social justice, and often speaks about her involvement with Students Organizing for Labor Rights, a club advocating for campus workers who are so often treated with negligence by the university. She promotes change by spreading awareness of overlooked local and international social issues on social media, as well as providing information about mutual aid funds. Her welcoming attitude in the face of difficult issues inspires me to get involved, and she often invites groups of friends to attend protests with her. I will never forget the first protest I attended with her, a march remonstrating police violence in Chicago. My friend became a leader of sorts, sharing her knowledge of what to bring and how to act in case of an emergency, as well as leading rally cries at the march. Her eagerness to discuss social issues has encouraged me to become more involved with local social justice issues.

A picture from a protest on police violence that I went to with my friend last year

Living in a time marked by a pandemic, political tumult, and rising levels of adolescent mental health issues, it is not always easy to find the motivation to uphold personal values. Whether I am picking up pieces of trash on the street or attending protests with my friend, upholding personal values comes easy when it also means spending time with friends and watching them thrive in their element. Seeing my friends take action around things that are important to them inspires me to pursue my own passions. My friends have played a key role in encouraging me to pursue my own musical passion, and their support motivates me to continue.  For me, becoming a DJ is not all about my love for music – my main goal as a DJ is to create a space on the dance floor that invites anyone and everyone to express themselves fully. I hope to  create something special for others to experience, and spread joy. And ultimately, by sticking true to my own taste and persona, I hope to encourage others to go after what is important to them too.


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By Lu Poteshman

Lu is a rising senior at Northwestern University, where she studies English Literature with a minor in Art, Theory and Practice. She is passionate about all things music and art, and loves to paint, draw, design things, write creatively, cook and explore in her free time. She is currently working towards her dreams of being a book editor by day and DJ by night.


For over 20 years, the Campus Clipper has been offering awesome student discounts in NYC,  from the East Side to Greenwich Village. Along with inspiration, the company offers students a special coupon booklet and the Official Student Guide, which encourages them to discover new places in the city and save money on food, clothing, and services.  

At the Campus Clipper, not only do we help our interns learn new skills, make money, and create wonderful e-books, we give them a platform to teach others. Check our website for more student savings and watch our YouTube video showing off some of New York City’s finest students during the Welcome Week of 2015.

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Remix: DJ Downfalls

Thursday, July 7th, 2022

The trial and error of joining new clubs as a college freshman can best be described as the search for a safety net of familiar eyes in an unfamiliar space. As a newcomer to WNUR, Northwestern’s radio station, I was eager to find friends among a roomful of other radio apprentices, strangers united by a love for underground music. Despite the kinship formed through a series of mixtape exchanges and welcoming mentors, self-doubt persisted. One time, my friend and I debated going to a mixer held at a senior’s off-campus house for two hours – by the time we worked up the courage to go, the event had ended. 

When sophomore year began online due to the pandemic, the shaky decisions that I made as a freshman became cemented in time as I found myself unable to branch out socially and extracurricularly. Meanwhile, WNUR struggled to adapt to this new remote setting. Maintaining the community without the ability to gather in-person proved nearly impossible, and we could no longer host our shows in person. Recording music on a laptop for two hours at home simply did not compare to the experience of going into the On Air Control Room, sitting among the expanse of radio equipment and tens of thousands of records and CDs dating back to the 70s in the backroom known as ‘the stacks.’ I missed the magic of the stacks, a time capsule where every square inch from floor to ceiling is filled with precarious piles of music, with reviews and unsolicited opinions from WNUR members across the decades scribbled in sharpie on the album covers for future radio hosts like me to peruse. Most importantly, between the radio hosts, friends, apprentices, and curious visitors, there was a constant flow of like-minded people coming through the OACR. The constant buzz of activity dwindled away as in-person activities halted. 

Using radio equipment to air my radio show from the OACR

With some extra time on my hands and a hankering for new connections, I decided to join Streetbeat, a club that plays electronic and house music on the radio, where students can learn how to DJ. Although I was pretty intimidated by the idea of learning how to DJ, I had nothing to lose and decided to give it a try. In weekly zoom meetings, I met club members and learned the ins and outs of DJing, from creating a music library and navigating DJ software to mixing techniques. Along with the mentor whom I was paired with, everyone in the club was friendly and eager to help. One Streetbeat member invited me to their radio show and used their own air time to show me the ropes; another offered to lend me his mixing board so that I could practice at home. By the end of the semester, I had recorded an hour-long mix, and was ready to take on my own radio show as a house music DJ. 

Although I was thrilled to start DJing on the air, I immediately encountered some unexpected challenges. The segments reserved for Streetbeat are between 10pm and 3am, and as a newcomer, my time slot that first semester was at 1am. More often than not, the last thing I wanted to do at 12:30am on a Tuesday night was go to campus, and it was a struggle to make it out of the house. In addition, despite the support I found attending other DJs’ shows, it was up to me to successfully coordinate my own show. The equipment in the OACR has a daunting array of buttons, and I felt lost without a helping hand by my side. During my first attempt at a show, I couldn’t find the on/off switch for the DJ equipment, and the next week, it took me half an hour and lots of google searches to locate the volume knob. I also had a lot of trouble getting my music on the equipment, which would only accept input from a USB, and required the use of outdated and glitchy technology that I had no idea how to troubleshoot. It was frustrating to show up at 1am, just to find myself unable to play any music. On top of that, the skill gap between me and the other, more established DJs was intimidating, and it seemed impossible that I would ever be able to navigate the DJ board with the dexterity and confidence that they effortlessly exuded. 

Trying something new is never glamorous. It is clumsy and awkward, and you have to accept failure – and an occasional, very public flop – as part of the deal. As I immersed myself in the world and community of DJing, I learned that an adventurous attitude will only get you to the starting line. In order to continue to pursue something in face of the challenges,  persistence is necessary. What continued to propel me forward through these roadblocks was my passion for music. Even defeated walks home after failed radio shows, I was exhausted but ultimately satisfied, knowing that I was doing something for myself, investing in my future. With every failed attempt or small success, I felt myself nearing a more authentic version of myself, and this understanding carried me through my door and to the radio station at one in the morning that next Tuesday night.


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By Lu Poteshman

Lu is a rising senior at Northwestern University, where she studies English Literature with a minor in Art, Theory and Practice. She is passionate about all things music and art, and loves to paint, draw, design things, write creatively, cook and explore in her free time. She is currently working towards her dreams of being a book editor by day and DJ by night.


For over 20 years, the Campus Clipper has been offering awesome student discounts in NYC,  from the East Side to Greenwich Village. Along with inspiration, the company offers students a special coupon booklet and the Official Student Guide, which encourages them to discover new places in the city and save money on food, clothing, and services.  

At the Campus Clipper, not only do we help our interns learn new skills, make money, and create wonderful e-books, we give them a platform to teach others. Check our website for more student savings and watch our YouTube video showing off some of New York City’s finest students during the Welcome Week of 2015.

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Overture: New Musical Beginnings

Wednesday, June 29th, 2022

The night before I was set to move out of the apartment I had been subletting for the fall  semester of my junior year, I found myself surrounded by boxes, bare walls and my two roommates. We were strangers upon moving in, but sharing a living space is a sure way to expedite friendship, and the three of us became very close almost instantly. In the corner of my empty closet, a violin case caught my roommate’s eye. “Lu, we’ve never heard you play violin before… will you play us something?” 

Her request made me hesitate. I hadn’t played violin in almost two years and couldn’t remember how to play anything off the top of my head. Suddenly, all the memories of dancing to our favorite songs in the kitchen came to mind, and I knew exactly what to do. 

“Here’s an idea – how about you pick your favorite songs and I’ll play them?”

“You can do that? Without looking up the sheet music or anything?”

“Sure thing,” I responded, thinking back to my years of sight reading, hundreds of hours of practice, and my carefully trained ear. I know my violin like an extension of my own body, and years of listening and playing have taught me how to instantaneously process a melody and bring it to life. 

Their dubious expressions turned dumbstruck as they started naming songs, and, one by one, watched me bring them to life by listening to a snippet of the song, bringing the violin to my neck, and using muscle memory to play it on the spot, adding harmonies and embellishments as I went.

“I can’t believe you were hiding a secret talent from us all this time!” they exclaimed. I wasn’t hiding it, exactly, but it’s true that my violin had been sitting at the back of my closet for almost two years.

An early snapshot of me playing violin.

I started playing violin at the age of five, driven to lessons and daily practice entirely by my mother’s volition. As a child, I dreaded the long hours and frustratingly slow progress, but with the help of my naturally musical ear I grew to embrace the hobby. As I entered high school, violin became one of the most central parts of my life. 

I loved the sense of community I found at music school, and cherished the feeling of playing in groups, the sense of being a part of something bigger than myself. And, of course, I loved the music itself. I was entranced by its sweeping declarations, its way of telling stories without words, conveying emotions that only music can. Living with parents who encouraged my musical pursuits, violin easily fell into my daily routine. Every day I came home from school and practiced for two hours a day, playing scales over and over again, picking apart notes and phrases, striving for perfection.

When I moved to Chicago for college, my violin came with me, and I kept up a daily practice routine. But without my parents looking over my shoulder, I began to question if I really wanted to continue spending time in the practice room, especially when I could be chipping away at an ever-growing mountain of homework or socializing with my new friends. I could feel my old routine of violin slipping out of my grasp, and it was scary. I wanted to hang onto this part of my life – hiding away in the practice room was my refuge from a sea of uncertainty that waited beyond the soundproof doors. But my time was too valuable, and I felt myself being pulled towards other things, new things. 

Just a couple of weeks into freshman year, I walked over to the club fair with a recent friend, recalling mishaps from our first few days on campus. The club fair was held in a huge room in the student center, and we followed a horde of fellow underclassmen up a wide staircase into a huge room of chaos. We were greeted by endless rows of tri-fold posters, folding tables, and streams of people walking up and down the aisles, each person talking a little louder than the person next to them. I lost my friend in the chaos and wandered down the aisles alone, totally lost, not sure how I would go about selecting between the five literary magazines and thirty volunteer groups. 

“There you are!” I was relieved to hear my friend’s voice, and even more relieved to hear that she was feeling similarly overwhelmed. Just as we were about to leave, we walked by a table in the corner with a notably more subdued vibe and a poster that said WNUR in huge letters. The seniors at the booth explained that the radio station was a great opportunity for music lovers to play music live on the air. I signed up, leaving with a sense of new beginnings. Although I didn’t know anything about working at a radio station, or rock music, I could envision myself being a part of the community. It was the first step I took outside of my comfort zone at college, and although I didn’t know it at the time, WNUR would become one of the most important parts of my life at Northwestern, a source of community and personal growth. 

It can be difficult to step away from something that has become such a large part of your life, especially when you aren’t exactly sure who you want to be or how to get there. By evaluating what aspects of my high school self fit into my life as I transitioned into college, I discovered that I needed to put my old hobbies aside to leave room to follow my instincts and see what I was drawn towards. In doing so, I chose to prioritize the person I wanted to become rather than preserving the person I already was. I didn’t know what lay ahead but I knew I was looking forward and envisioning the person I wanted to be. And that was all I needed to take that first step. 


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By Lu Poteshman

Lu is a rising senior at Northwestern University, where she studies English Literature with a minor in Art, Theory and Practice. She is passionate about all things music and art, and loves to paint, draw, design things, write creatively, cook and explore in her free time. She is currently working towards her dreams of being a book editor by day and DJ by night.


For over 20 years, the Campus Clipper has been offering awesome student discounts in NYC,  from the East Side to Greenwich Village. Along with inspiration, the company offers students a special coupon booklet and the Official Student Guide, which encourages them to discover new places in the city and save money on food, clothing, and services.  

At the Campus Clipper, not only do we help our interns learn new skills, make money, and create wonderful e-books, we give them a platform to teach others. Check our website for more student savings and watch our YouTube video showing off some of New York City’s finest students during the Welcome Week of 2015.

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Plugging in with Good Intentions — Chapter 4: Music Mix

Monday, August 2nd, 2021

There’s no denying that music influences our mood and form of expression. Whether you’re a composer, performer, or a mere listener, music can be the perfect outlet to express creativity and let out emotions.

With technological advancements, we can listen to any song our heart desires with just a few clicks of a button. 

Sometimes we need a distraction or boost to our everyday lives. For me, I think of music as an abstract companion. As long as I have a device that can connect to music, I know that I can depend on it to be there for me. I never go about my day without listening to some form of music. Even if it’s a busy day, I’m sure my ears will end up hearing a tune from a commercial or the radio playing from my neighbor.  


Back in third grade, my school required us to learn how to play the recorder. I became so fond of it that I made my parents purchase my own recorder instead of renting it out from school. It also helped that we were told that we would be rewarded with colored ribbons each time we mastered a song. This incentive definitely pushed me into trying my best and advancing my skills. I would say this was the point where music became a bigger part of my life. 

Once I reached fourth grade, middle school band teachers were brought in to introduce us to the other instruments that we could learn to play. At this point, it wasn’t mandatory to learn another instrument nor play the recorder. Still, I chose to learn how to play the flute and went on to perform in numerous school concerts. Along with playing in the middle school band, I played for the all-city band that was made up of students from different middle schools in Quincy, MA. From making new friends to developing music skills, I owe it to my younger self for sparking my appreciation and enjoyment of music.


Maybe you’re not a big fan of music. Yet, let’s look at the wide range of benefits that music brings to our lives. 

1. Mood Matcher

  • Music platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music are perfect for discovering new music and creating playlists tailored to your mood. From songs to sing while in the shower to crying in the rain, the search for new music never has to end. 

2. Mental Health

3. Social Connections

  • Music can easily be shared with others via the Internet. From individual songs to packed playlists, you can find people who have similar music tastes. 

4. Cognitive Boost

  • Listening to music can block outside noises and improve your concentration.

5. Increase workout endurance

  • High tempo tracks can help boost physical activities. By blocking out distractions, you can focus on building strength and endurance.

These are just a few of the many benefits that music can bring into our lives. From meeting new people to keeping calm under stressful activities, listening to music stimulates our ears and brain activity. It doesn’t matter if you are musically inclined or a fan of a certain artist. Remember it’s all about having fun, encouraging good vibes, and plugging in with good intentions


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By: Sydney Ly

Sydney Ly studies Communication with dual minors in Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Massachusetts Boston. She is currently working in retail and has experience as a tutor. Her passions include but are not limited to reading, listening to music, and watching The Office.

For over 20 years, the Campus Clipper has been offering awesome student discounts in NYC, from the East Side to Greenwich Village. Along with inspiration, the company offers students a special coupon booklet and the Official Student Guide, which encourages them to discover new places in the city and save money on food, clothing, and services.  

At the Campus Clipper, not only do we help our interns learn new skills, make money, and create wonderful e-books, we give them a platform to teach others. Check our website for more student savings and watch our YouTube video showing off some of New York City’s finest students during the Welcome Week of 2015.

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Plugging in with Good Intentions — Chapter 3: Passion Perusal

Monday, July 26th, 2021

As you scroll through social media apps and the Internet, you may come across a wide range of activities and ideas that can spark your interest. Whether or not it’s your intention, you may pick up a new passion. 

You may have heard of this app called Pinterest

Pinterest is a great place to start if you like visuals and looking to discover new information. From exploring recipes to saving money through its product catalogs, this app can easily put you on the right path to find a new passion, or discovering a place to visit and save money. While you’re at it, check out Campus Clipper on Pinterest


Take, for example, my new passion for the art of crochet. According to Britannica, crochet is a “craft that developed in the 19th century out of a form of chain-stitch embroidery done with a hook instead of a needle.”

My new hobby all started on TikTok. My sister was the one who influenced me into exploring and learning more about crochet. She was scrolling through the app and found some users that were creating a wide variety of crafts such as plushies, clothing items, and accessories. After seeing numerous posts on crocheting, I soon began my quest on finding inspiration for my first project. 

In particular, @henripurnell on TikTok created a cardigan inspired by one worn by Harry Styles. He even made a YouTube video for a more in-depth tutorial that, of course, I had to watch. The cardigan is made up of a number of patches, as seen in this image that Henri includes in his tutorial video. 

With its presumed simplicity, I attempted to follow Henri’s tutorial and create my own chunky cardigan. 

The learning process certainly consisted of numerous trial-and-error attempts, as I was a mere beginner at the time. While the tutorial contained various stitch patterns, I decided to simply practice one stitch. Despite being bigger than I was intending it to be, it was worth all the hard work in the end. 


Along with a cardigan, I even made a headscarf inspired by a YouTube tutorial video from  Brunaticality. It’s a perfect accessory to tie an outfit together.  


Now, I know that crocheting isn’t for everyone. The key takeaway is that you can, too, find your passion or add a new one to your list. Inspiration is everywhere. From social media posts to advertisements, be open-minded on topics that may spark even the slightest bit of your interest. Who knows, maybe your new passion will lead to a possible career path! 

But here are some ideas to get you started:

  • Sports
  • Fitness
  • Arts & Crafts
  • Music
  • Video games
  • Travel
  • Photography
  • Culinary (check out quick recipes in chapter 2 of Plugging in with Good Intentions)

Don’t fret over not finding something you love right away. Your new passions don’t have to be your career nor be about earning profits from it. Just remember to maintain good intentions when logging onto the Internet and be open-minded to new things.


If you’re thinking of getting into sports and fitness, check out a Reebok Fithub store for 10% off gear and classes!


By: Sydney Ly

Sydney Ly studies Communication with dual minors in Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Massachusetts Boston. She is currently working in retail and has experience as a tutor. Her passions include but are not limited to reading, listening to music, and watching The Office.

For over 20 years, the Campus Clipper has been offering awesome student discounts in NYC, from the East Side to Greenwich Village. Along with inspiration, the company offers students a special coupon booklet and the Official Student Guide, which encourages them to discover new places in the city and save money on food, clothing, and services.  

At the Campus Clipper, not only do we help our interns learn new skills, make money, and create wonderful e-books, we give them a platform to teach others. Check our website for more student savings and watch our YouTube video showing off some of New York City’s finest students during the Welcome Week of 2015.

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Self-Love and Your Job

Friday, May 26th, 2017

“Never continue in a job you don’t enjoy.

If you’re happy in what you’re doing, you’ll like yourself, you’ll have inner peace.

And if you have that, along with physical health,

you will have had more success than you could possibly have imagined.”

-Johnny Carson

Johnny Carson-talk show host and comedian. Image Credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Carson

Image Credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Carson

Self-love and your career. What an intriguing thought. How does what you do for a living impact the way you love yourself?

There are tons and tons of inspirational quotes on self-love and the career you lead! Take some time to check out a few of them! Definitely worth it! Image Credit: https://www.linkedin.com/topic/self-esteem

Image Credit: https://www.linkedin.com/topic/self-esteem

Well, are you doing what you’re doing because you love it, or because it is easy, convenient, or pays the bills? I think many of us, myself included, get caught in the ease and convenience of complacency in life. It is too easy to get comfortable wherever we are and not want to leave, to remain complacent because your job provides you with (maybe even just barely) financial stability. Personally though, I’ve always said that if I start to feel too comfortable, it is time to move on to something else-there’s no opportunity for growth where we are overly comfortable. We are simply stagnant here. This space is useless when it comes to personal growth.

An interesting thought is also that loving your job can actually impact your health. As is goes, if you love what you are doing, they say you’ll live longer! Inc. explains that happy equals healthy, good jobs fuel community, good work allows for fulfillment, enjoying your job means less stress and anxiety, and being challenged means less boredom.

No one wants to feel like this guy! Find what you love and do it the best you can! Relax and take a deep breath. Stop rushing and let go of any unnecessary stress, depression, or anxiety! Image Credit: https://www.inc.com/laura-garnett/5-reasons-loving-your-job-helps-you-live-longer.html

Image Credit: https://www.inc.com/laura-garnett/5-reasons-loving-your-job-helps-you-live-longer.html

Further explained…one study found that older people who are overall happier and in better moods are 35% less likely to die within five years, people who are more social live an average of 3.7 years longer than their less-social counterparts, psychologists say living with a purpose is the most important key to living a long and healthy life, stress is the top proxy killer disease today, and mental alertness keeps your brain sharp as you age.

To wrap that all up, a fruitful and fulfilling career will lead you straight to a place of greater self-love!! A job where you are enjoying your work, surrounding yourself with kindness and support, and being appreciated and respected will give you greater confidence and appreciation for yourself and what you are doing.

I believe that each of us, whether we want to admit it or not, truly desires to be successful and to do so by finding something that we love to do and thriving at it. How many people still say that there is no such thing as loving your job so much it feels like you never have to work a day in your life, though? Too many! Do you believe this? Share your comments on this with us! I truly believe that the idea of loving your career so that it is a fruitful and satisfying part of your life is an idea that is entirely possible to turn into a reality. Perhaps I am naive, but I really don’t think so.

You try it! If you hate your job, maybe it is time to move on to bigger and better places. If you love your job, think about how that relates to the way you feel about yourself. Are you happy? Would you be less happy with a less satisfying career? Probably. Love yourself and find a career that feeds your soul! You’ll only thank yourself.


By Chanelle Surphlis

Chanelle Surphlis is a Campus Clipper publishing intern, who is graduating from FIT this May. Passionate about giving back and pursuing volunteer opportunities, Chanelle aspires to work for a fashion or beauty company that includes philanthropy in its core values. If you like Chanelle’s writing, check out her blogs here and here. We have the most talented interns ever and we’re so proud of them! For over 20 years, the Campus Clipper has been offering awesome student discounts in NYC,  from the East Side to Greenwich Village. Along with inspiration, the company offers students a special coupon booklet and the Official Student Guide, which encourage them to discover new places in the city and save money on food, clothing and services.  

At the Campus Clipper, not only do we help our interns learn new skills, make money, and create wonderful e-books, we give them a platform to teach others. Check our website for more student savings and watch our YouTube video showing off some of New York City’s finest students during the Welcome Week of 2015. 

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Having Your Novel Published

Saturday, January 7th, 2017

Image Credit: http://nerdist.com/inkshares-nerdist-novel-contest-published-sci-fi-fantasy-enter/

Image Credit: http://nerdist.com/inkshares-nerdist-novel-contest-published-sci-fi-fantasy-enter/

This blog post is for people who want to get published in some way. If you’re looking to get in print, be warned: it will be hard, it will be more commercial-based than your average undergrad creative writing course, and you will probably have to spend some money.

I got lucky and Lorrie Moore taught my creative writing class last semester, so I shall pass along some of her advice.

Don’t just send your manuscript to random publishing houses. It’s the same principle as sending your own mixtape to a record label—there are people specifically hired to go out and find new writers (or new music), and they are not sifting through pounds of unsolicited novels. If you’re determined to get this specific novel published, start small. Pick a little publisher who is not daily inundated with other peoples’ manuscripts. Send your writing to literary agents, who will in turn talk to publishers.

Send an excerpt to a magazine. Publishing houses don’t solicit books; magazines do solicit short stories. Some have short story contests alongside their regular content, some are devoted to short stories, and some love brilliant excerpts from larger pieces. The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Harper’s, and The Paris Review are mainstays. Esquire and GQ occasionally run contests. Explore magazines that are more specific to your subject and style: McSweeney’s is known for its humor, Seventeen caters to the “young adult women” genre (and they run a yearly short story contest), Asimov’s Science Fiction is devoted, naturally, to science fiction. If these all feel a little too mainstream, hit up any number of college reviews. Kenyon Review and Five Points are the most acclaimed.

Better yet, write a new short story and submit it. It’s hard to justify an excerpt of a larger work over a completed, within word count restraints, short story. Stretch those writing muscles. Word limits vary from magazine to magazine. Try to keep your story under 3,000. As a warning, submitting for contests and sometimes for general content often involves a submission fee. Don’t back out of an opportunity just because it will cost you, but know that it will cost you.

Publish online. If you’re not into the whole printing press, you do have an entire internet at your disposal: wordpress, tumblr, livejournal, AO3, etc: not just for social media. You can also set up your own page quick and simple using Google Page Creator. But if you’re serious about your writing—serious enough to put it on the internet, which is just a giant audience of Anon—it’s worth putting money on a domain name and a professional design.

Part of the getting published game is just waiting for the right moment, or trusting yourself over the publishers. A nice anecdote about this: a poetry professor once submitted his poem to an anthology; the editors sent it back with an encouraging note and a pageful of edits. He waited a few months, then resubmitted the same poem with a thank you note about the edits. The editors then published it. Trust your instincts. And suck up a little.

Sidebar: But part of the getting published game is about your writing as well.   You’re going to become disillusioned with your own accomplishment. You’re young and inexperienced and these things take time. Have some encouragement from Ira Glass:

“What nobody tells people who are beginners — and I really wish someone had told this to me…is that all of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, and it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase. They quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know it’s normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”

By Robin Yang


Robin Yang was one of the Campus Clipper’s publishing interns, who wrote an e-book on how to write a novel. If you like Robin’s writing, follow our blog for more chapters from this e-book. We have the most talented interns ever and we’re so proud of them! For over 20 years, the Campus Clipper has been offering awesome student discounts in NYC,  from the East Side to Greenwich Village. Along with inspiration, the company offers students a special coupon booklet and the Official Student Guide, which encourage them to discover new places in the city and save money on food, clothing and services.  

At the Campus Clipper, not only do we help our interns learn new skills, make money, and create wonderful e-books, we give them a platform to teach others. Check our website for more student savings and watch our YouTube video showing off some of New York City’s finest students during the Welcome Week of 2015.

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Time for Revision

Saturday, December 31st, 2016

Image Credit: https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/category/editing-your-novel/page/2/

Image Credit: https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/category/editing-your-novel/page/2/

Yay! You’re finished! Congratulations. Pour yourself a nice flute of champagne and relax. You’ve earned it. You just wrote a novel.

If you just wanted to write a novel to write a novel and maybe brag about it to some people, then by all means, get on with it. If you want to share it with some of your closest literary friends or maybe send an excerpt to the New Yorker or Atlantic Monthly—still take your time enjoying the champagne. Put the whole thing out of your mind for at least a few days. When you’re still in the mindset of cranking out the words, it’s easy to get attached to passages or characters that actually drag down your writing. After a nice rest, prepare yourself for the revision cave.

 The Writing

Now’s the time to look carefully at your writing, its mechanics and logical constructions. Style has nothing to do with it; it’s strictly a close, word-by-word reading. Check your diction. Do you really need to use “twirl” twice in one short paragraph when you envision two different motions (other words: “swirl,” “spin,” “turn,” “stir”)? Do you really need to use different speech tags (said, shouted, murmured, whispered, accused, countered, replied, yelled, etc) when the characters are having a superficially low-key conversation and everything is actually just “said”? Jeffrey Eugenides raises a similar complaint about Oscar Wilde’s diction in The Picture of Dorian Gray; Wilde doesn’t abuse his thesaurus, he merely dramatizes everything. No one ever just sits, everyone “flings himself down” on something. If Dorian is uncomfortable, he always does things nervously, and when he’s nervous, he always twitches. Pick the right word for the right image.

 The Arc

Go through and, at the end of each chapter or section or what have you, record the characters’ progressions in that section, how it fits into their overall transformations, and major plot developments. If a character regresses at some point, does it make sense? People regress all the time. There’s usually an impetus. You can’t crowd everything under the umbrella of “it’s the character” just because that’s how they were at the start. Even if you’d prefer to keep a character static, make sure the justification comes through. Laying out developments in this outline can also help you pinpoint trouble spots in pacing.

 Excise, Excise, Excise

Just because it’s a novel and you can make it as long as you want doesn’t mean you need to devote lines to everyone’s hair color and outfit or the entire layout of a room. Of course, there will be parts that need more clarification, but for the most part, you can afford to cut out entire paragraphs without confusing anyone. Whatever you leave in has to have a purpose. You don’t necessarily have to follow Chekov’s Rule, but if you’re going to spend the time to note what your characters order from Starbucks, then their orders have to mean something. Hot chocolate? Iced coffee during a Russian winter? Drip coffee instead of a latte? Americano instead of drip coffee? In real life, that doesn’t indicate anything significant, but in a novel, it matters (unless your point is that it doesn’t actually matter, in which case you have more thematic issues to sort anyway). Oh, and that huge existential monologue/soliloquy with some beautifully flowery phrases you wrote in a feverish haze of inspiration can stand to lose half its length. Hemingway says of his writing process, “I write one page of masterpiece to ninety-one pages of shit. I try to put the shit in the wastebasket.” We’re not all minimalists like Hemingway, though. Hold onto some of your pretty, introspective bits. The good bits.

 Sidebar:

If you need a break or want to procrastinate even more, spend some time on www.reasoningwithvampires.tumblr.com, a snarky passage-by-passage critique of Twilight. It’s an equal opportunity hater with regards to all the things people find wrong with Twilight, so be forewarned…but definitely pay attention to perhaps the most indisputable problem with the series: it’s just not well written. There are periods of rampant thesaurus abuse; there are periods of predictable diction; there are moments when the limited first person is suddenly omniscient; there are illogical sequences of action, in which someone walks away and suddenly reappears to respond to something; there are sloppy (rather than stylistic) comma misuse. (What’s the difference between a sloppy and a stylistic one? In Twilight: “He lay, smiling hugely, across my bed, his hands behind his head, his feet dangling off the end, the picture of ease.” In Joan Didion’s “Goodbye to All That”: “It is easy to see the beginnings of things, and harder to see the ends.” Didion said in an interview, “every word and every comma and every absence of a word or comma can change the meaning, make the rhythm, make the difference.” Sometimes you have to earn the right to flaunt grammar. Life’s not all fair.) Forget Bella and Edward’s questionable status as “heroine” and “the best dark brooding boyfriend ever.” When your words and their order distract a reader from the throwaway details they describe, something is wrong.

By Robin Yang


Robin Yang was one of the Campus Clipper’s publishing interns, who wrote an e-book on how to write a novel. If you like Robin’s writing, follow our blog for more chapters from this e-book. We have the most talented interns ever and we’re so proud of them! For over 20 years, the Campus Clipper has been offering awesome student discounts in NYC,  from the East Side to Greenwich Village. Along with inspiration, the company offers students a special coupon booklet and the Official Student Guide, which encourage them to discover new places in the city and save money on food, clothing and services.  

At the Campus Clipper, not only do we help our interns learn new skills, make money, and create wonderful e-books, we give them a platform to teach others. Check our website for more student savings and watch our YouTube video showing off some of New York City’s finest students during last year’s Welcome Week.

Become a fan on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and Instagram

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