College is a time in people’s lives to find who they are and who they hope to become one day. While in college, an amazing way to answer both these questions is by joining an organization on campus. The Burr Magazine is Kent State’s first student-run magazine and welcomes new members every semester. This week, I had the honor of interviewing Lilliana “D.” about her time writing for The Burr and where it has guided her since graduation.

She chose to go to Kent State after she fell in love with the school during an on-campus visit. She knew she did not want to be too far away from home, and Kent was a perfect 30 minute commute.

D., who now has a bachelor’s degree in communication studies, joined the Burr her sophomore year after a close friend in her class told her all about what the magazine strives for. She discovered that her passions aligned well with the Burr and went on to complete an application for the upcoming semester.

During her two years with The Burr, she blogged for one year online and later became a social media coordinator for one semester. Her love for writing led her to become a writer for the print issue, which unfortunately never got published due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Her favorite part about being involved with Burr was sharing the stories she wrote for the website on her personal social media account for her family and friends to see. 

One of her all time favorite stories she wrote for the Burr was titled, “The Haunted Halls of Kent State.” It was a story written all about the rumors around the haunted dorms on-campus. She interviewed several students around campus that live in the dorms and got to hear all their stories.

She said, “it was so great meeting people and publishing this story!” 

The Burr taught her about the writing process in its entirety. She shared how she gained experience in brainstorming, copywriting and publishing. D. said, “it was very eye-opening how in depth the writing and publishing process really is.”

Outside of writing, The Burr also showed Lilliana how to work well in a team and collaborate with other writers in a group setting. D. graduated from Kent State in December of 2022. After graduation, she started working full-time as a social media marketer. She provided her job with some of her writing samples from her time at The Burr and they offered her to be a part of the blog team.

She has written a few blogs for her job’s brand. She said, “it has been really exciting that I have gotten to fill my passion for writing in my full-time career!”

In the future, she hopes to publish a children’s book. 

D. also shared some advice for students currently attending Kent State. She recommends taking the class, “Writing Across Platforms” to learn more about AP style and different writing formats.

“I have carried this information with me into my professional career,” she said.

Her last word of advice for all college students was to soak up every moment.

“Even if you do not like school, these moments are going to fly by so fast and you will miss them one day,” D. said.