Her Story
About Claire
I'm a current junior at LaSalle University where I serve as the incoming editor-in-chief for the LaSalle Collegian, our student-run newsroom on campus. I've been an editor since my freshman year, so moving into this role where I manage the whole student newsroom with my managing editor felt like a natural progression. Beyond the Collegian, I'm the communications lead for the Philadelphia Student Press Association (PSPA), a non-profit organization that launched in May 2025. The founder, a media entrepreneur and college senior in Philadelphia, reached out to student newsrooms across the city with the idea to unite them and create professional development opportunities, building pathways to professional journalism during a time when newsrooms are shrinking and the media pipeline is difficult to sustain. When he pitched the idea to our editor-in-chief Maya, I thought it was one of the best ideas I'd ever heard and immediately became invested in the mission. He asked me to be his right-hand person and manage our executive committee and advisory board. Since launching, PSPA has grown to a network of over 500 members, and it's been a great opportunity for me to create opportunities for young student journalists who otherwise wouldn't know how to strengthen their skills, outlook, and perspectives. I'm also a student athlete on LaSalle's dance team, where we perform together at home basketball games, and I believe that collectivism and working in unison is what makes our performances presentable and engaging for the fans.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Claire
01What do you attribute your success to?
I would definitely say my family. I wouldn't have been able to attend LaSalle without them and their support. It kind of goes back to my father - he gave me the passions I have to this day, and I truly look at him as if it's looking in a mirror, so I definitely attribute my success thanks to him. My professors have been invaluable too - their doors are always open, and it's such a nice thing to have. At LaSalle, even though it's a private institution, it doesn't act like one. The class sizes are so small and intimate that classes are able to be conversations, whereas if I was in a lecture hall with 60 or 70 other students, it wouldn't be the same. Having the professors as a mentor and a friend and a resource has been an invaluable experience for me. Plus my friends - a lot of them are seniors this year, and even though they're leaving, I really do lean on my friends and they lean on me. The place that has built them up is LaSalle, and I'm so happy to send them off and see them do amazing things.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best advice I've received is to get involved and not be afraid to connect with people. When I was a first semester freshman at LaSalle, all of my professors were so open to conversations and connecting, but you don't really strengthen those connections unless you continue talking to them and continue connecting. One thing they told us was to not be afraid to ask for feedback and to just connect in general. Tell your professors what you want in life, tell your professors what opportunities you're looking for, and from there, conversation just flows so nicely. Every time I'm in my education buildings around LaSalle, there's always someone - either a student or a faculty advisor or a professor - that I'm saying hi to, that I'm engaging in conversation with. I was in the library today at about 8 AM and a professor came in from the English department that I had never met before, and him and I had a 30-minute conversation about him hiring professors and what it's been like at LaSalle. It just goes to show: be open to conversation, be open to networking and connecting with people, because it really does get you farther than you'll ever imagine.
03What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Definitely communication - I feel like maybe that's an obvious one because I'm communications lead at PSPA, so day in and day out, there's a lot of people that I am discussing things with, looking to, and trying to set up different things. Other values that I hold very true to myself are collaboration and transparency. It's one thing to do tasks by yourself, but also looping in others and making it a united project or opportunity can be really, really fun sometimes. This is a good example: I'm a student athlete at LaSalle on the dance team, and I feel like collectivism is an important thing that we hold true to ourselves. We don't really do solos on the court during home basketball games - everyone is together and dancing very uniform, because that's the only way that the dance and formation can look presentable and read well with the audience and the fans. We do really well when every single member on our team's energy is high and we're excited to be cheering on our team. So yeah, going back to that, definitely communication, being transparent with people, and collaboration are my two favorites.
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