As a member of Campus Recreation, I am often surrounded by many talented students on the marketing team. From photographers to graphic designers, Campus Recreation has it all. In almost all of the buildings across campus, each of the gym facilities, and even on signs outside, you can see the work of our amazing team.
In this Behind the Scenes with Campus Rec blog, Lizzy LaPine, our Graphic Design Supervisor, shares her experience of working with Campus Recreation. Follow along to learn more about her role as a leader and graphic designer on our team.
Introduce yourself! Tell InsideRec who you are and what you do for Campus Recreation.
Lizzy: My name is Lizzy LaPine and I am currently a senior Business Analytics & Intelligence major at URI. For Campus Recreation, I work for the marketing team and am a graphic design supervisor. I have been working for Campus Recreation since my freshman year!
Why did you choose to come to URI?
Lizzy: I chose to go to URI because it reminds me of home without being at home. I am from Cape Cod, MA, and have always grown up around the beach. When choosing where I wanted to go to college, I did not want to be super close to home, but I still wanted to have aspects of home while at school. When I toured URI, I immediately loved the campus and that it was close to the beach. There is so much to do here at all times of the year with being close to a beach town and Newport being 30 minutes away.
What made you decide to join Campus Recreation?
Lizzy: I decided to join the Campus Rec team in the second semester of my freshman year. When I first came to URI, I was a marketing major and I was trying to get some major related experience to put on my resume. I decided to look on Handshake for on campus jobs and saw that Campus Recreation Marketing was hiring a Digital Content Editor/Graphic Designer. I applied, however, was unsure whether I would get it because I had little to no experience and was only a freshman. I ended up getting the position and was welcomed with open arms. The community that works at Campus Rec Marketing is like no other and we are all like one big family, which is why I have stayed for so long.
What is your favorite part of working for Campus Recreation? Why do you enjoy creating graphics?
Lizzy: My favorite part of working for Campus Recreation is the creative freedom that I get, and the opportunities for growth. When I first started as a designer, I was taught all the proper branding guidelines. When getting assigned a graphic project, I was also given full creative freedom to design whatever I pleased. This really gave me the opportunity to think outside of the box and try out new things. I think the openness to creativity really helped grow my portfolio and help me grow within my field. In my sophomore year, I realized that marketing might not be for me and that I wanted to be in a major that was more mathematical and analytical, which is when I switched my major to Business, Analytics & Intelligence. I still loved graphic design, but I wanted to see if there were any projects or tasks that I would do at Campus Rec that related more to my new major. My boss was very happy for me and gave me the opportunity to do the analytics for our social media team. I started collecting data from specific campaigns throughout the year and made slide decks explaining what the analytics meant and how we could use them to our advantage. This way, we are able to forecast what will perform well on our [various social media] platforms in order to increase our engagement and following. Aside from the analytics, I was offered a leadership position which gave me the opportunity to do work in event planning, task management, and financial budgeting. The opportunity for growth that Campus Recreation has offered me is incredible and has helped me grow as a professional.
Do you have a project you are most proud of and want to share with InsideRec?
Lizzy: One of the projects that I was most proud of was not necessarily a graphic design project but more of an event planning project. Last summer, I was in the process of training to be a graphic design supervisor and was asked to plan our beginning of the year event, RecFest. At first, I thought it was a little daunting to plan a whole event that hundreds of students would attend, however, I have learned while working at Campus Rec that it’s important to step out of your comfort zone. With my past experience of working at the event, I compiled aspects that were important to the event and made a slide deck, and presented it to my boss as well as the Coordinator of Intramural Sports. It ended up being very successful which led to a successful event.
How has being a part of Campus Recreation impacted your experience at URI?
Lizzy: Being a part of Campus Recreation has had such a positive impact on my experience at URI. To start, I did not realize all of the fitness resources that students have available to them until I began promoting them for Campus Recreation. With that being said, I love attending group exercise classes which are free for all students! Additionally, I have made so many friends through Campus Recreation which makes walking around campus a lot more fun.
Do you have a piece of advice for students who are thinking about joining our team?
Lizzy: If you or someone you know is interested in joining our team, I definitely would recommend applying! In my opinion (which may be biased), Campus Recreation Marketing gives you so many opportunities to grow as an individual and a professional. It also is such a fun and upbeat environment and you will make so many friends. I am so sad that my time is almost up here but am excited for students to continue to grow and thrive here!
Thank you for reading along with Behind the Scenes With Campus Rec: Volume IV. Here at URI, Campus Recreation offers many opportunities to Be Active, Be Well, and Belong. Check out our website and social media for more information on fitness classes and events.
By Tara Roumes