CAFME's full of some pretty amazing people, and we want you to get to know them. This week? Meet Mary Stevens, CAFME's 2012-2013 secretary!Tell us a bit about yourself.
I am a junior photojournalism major, minoring in English. I’m from Mooresville, N.C., which is near Charlotte. I love to travel, write, read and document via photography. I love theatre - attending and acting - and I love movies - I’m actually in the midst of writing a screenplay!
How did you get involved in CAFME?
I had heard about it from an upperclassman friend who was involved. The first meeting I attended was the resume workshop with Jay Eubank. I was a freshman with hardly any journalism experience so I freaked out after that meeting, thinking I was way behind. I started attending all the CAFME meetings and learned so much right away - most importantly I learned that I still had plenty of time to gain journalism experience!
What do you do on CAFME?
I am the secretary for the organization, so I take down meeting notes and turn those into weekly blog posts recapping what we learned from our wonderful speakers. I also monitor meeting attendance and the functionality of the blog.
What do you like the most about the club?
I love the knowledge I’ve gained about networking and the nuances of different magazine jobs. Cafme has guided me through the somewhat daunting task of applying to internships and communicating with editors.
What is your goal for the club this year?
I’d like to see the blog expand this year. I’m working to develop sections that compile advice we’ve heard from speakers on topics like resumes, interviewing, internships and living in New York. CAFME is such a great source for magazine information, so I want to make sure it’s accessible to all of our members.
What else are you involved with?
I’m the arts editor at The Daily Tar Heel. That takes up the bulk of my time because I’m there every day except Saturdays, editing and writing about the UNC and community arts.
With my photojournalism courses, I also get to visually explore the University and community as I take photographs and create videos.
On breaks when I return home, I’m a freelance writer and videographer for Creative Loafing - Charlotte.
Tell us about your magazine experience.
Most of my journalism experience is in newspapers, but I’ve found that many of the skills I’ve learned at those publications are transferrable to the magazine industry.
I’ve been an intern at Creative Loafing - Charlotte, which is an alternative weekly - sort of a hybrid between newspapers and magazines. With that internship, I got to write about Charlotte artists and chefs. I also got to create a series of videos that featured Charlotte restaurants and cooking demonstrations.
I’ve also interned at Statesville Record & Landmark, a community newspaper.
On campus, I’ve been a designer and written for the arts desk at The Daily Tar Heel and written for UNC’s Her Campus website.
