Meet the Officers: Stephanie Blackmon

CAFME's full of some pretty amazing people, and we want you to get to know them. This week? Meet Stephanie Blackmon, CAFME's 2012-2013 treasurer.

Tell us a bit about yourself.
I'm a senior English major minoring in Cognitive Psychology and I'm from Clinton, NC. When I'm not reading books for class, I'm reading books for fun, painting, and watching movies.

How did you get involved in CAFME?
While I was stalking the UNC journalism website for campus publications that needed writers, I stumbled upon a blurb about a CAFME meeting so I went to the next meeting and I've been a member ever since!

What do you do on CAFME?
I'm the treasurer for the 2012-2013 school year. I handle all the money transactions for the organization through the SAFO office.

What do you like the most about the club?
I love the people of CAFME. Everyone is so friendly and they genuinely love some aspect of the magazine business. I love how dedicated people are to coming to meetings and how they really listen to the advice given by the guests who take the time to speak to us via Skype or in person. And speaking of, I love listening to all of our guest speakers!

What is your goal for the club this year?
I really want our members to learn a lot about the magazine business and how they can better prepare themselves to make it into the industry. I hope that this organization helps people network, figure out whether or not this is really what they want to do in the future, and provide them with all the resources necessary to succeed.

What else are you involved with?
I'm a writer for Uncharted magazine (an online publication); I'm Vice President of UNICEF at Carolina; I'm a member of minority student recruitment.

Tell us about your magazine experience.
I found out about CAFME spring semester of my junior year and that's also when I began stalking the Journalism website so I was somewhat late getting into the magazine experience. However, Uncharted provided me with experience writing for an online publication. It allowed me to write in a manner that, as an English major, I'm not taught like journalist students are. It was fun getting to go outside my comfort zone and do something I had never done before. I was able to talk to people and learn more about their backgrounds and experiences. I really enjoyed it.

What tips would you offer to others trying to follow in your footsteps?
Scour the journalism website for experience writing on campus, scour the Ed2010 website for internship opportunities, don't be afraid to ask questions and reach out to people. If you really want it, don't give up. You should use all the resources and opportunities in front of you; those are what help you make connections to start your future career.

What would you like to do after you graduate?
I actually decided I wanted to go to law school after graduation for family law. I'm still not sure if I want to jump right into law school after undergrad or if I want to take a year off and do something like Teach for America or go to NYC and try and write somewhere. Either way, I do want to go into magazines at some point because I love everything about them!

What is your one Carolina must-do?
Introduce yourself to someone you see on campus all the time but you don't know their name! I recently did this.