Valuable Life Lessons: Following Up and Following Through

If you were to eavesdrop on my phone conversations around campus this past semester, you might have thought I’m a spy: “commencing Phase 1 of Mission Ashley I.”

During the bulk of my semester, I began working extensively on one of the biggest projects I’ve ever had the opportunity to be a part of. An alumna speaker event, said to be some students’ favorite SU speaker event they’ve ever attended, all started with one measly comment on Instagram.

If the past 11 months have taught me one thing, it’s that reality TV can wind up being more than a guilty pleasure. I kept up on several seasons of “The Bachelor” franchise and scheduled my weekday plans around by pivotal Bachelor Mondays. During Season 19 of “The Bachelor,” I learned that Ashley Iaconetti, better known as Ashley I, the hopeless romantic with the journalist job title in the lower third, is a proud alumna of the Newhouse School. Her broadcast journalism expertise made her image on “The Bachelor” franchise that much more admirable.

In the summer following my freshman year, upon learning that Ashley I is a fellow Orange, I proceeded to have a crazy fan moment and comment on her Instagram post, begging Ashley I to “please come speak at Newhouse”. She liked my comment, acknowledging her interest in returning to campus, and I had a moment of instant empowerment to pursue this idea. I’d like to say that making this event happen was as simple as dropping a message on a social media post, but that would be the oversimplified Disney version.

Naturally, I direct messaged Ashley via Instagram assuring her that my suggestion was absolutely serious. To no avail, she never saw my message. After a while of convincing myself this idea was farfetched and silly, I decided to take an alternative route to get ahold of Ashley. I sent a message to her agent’s email address, which I conveniently found in Ashley’s Instagram bio. Oh, how social media have changed the game! Within 24 hours, I received a very promising response expressing Ashley’s genuine interest in making big debut back on campus.

As much of a control freak I can be sometimes, I knew that planning this event couldn’t be entirely me calling the shots. I reached out to Newhouse administration, and to put it simply, they weren’t on board with the idea of handing over a couple of thousand dollars to a random incoming sophomore to put toward a disorganized dream. So, that seemed like game over. In hindsight, that was probably a smart move, Newhouse administration.

I returned to campus for my sophomore year that August, leaving my high hopes for Ashley to come to SU behind me. I got into the groove of the things between my busy class schedule and commitment to clubs. One Wednesday in September, I attended the general interest meeting for a club I was involved with the year previous, Women in Communications (WIC). Listening with a close ear, I noticed that club president Morgan Trau mentioned the funding the club gets as a result of being Newhouse-affiliated. As you can imagine, a lightbulb as bright as the “Bachelor in Paradise” sunshine set off in my head.

I voiced my idea for an event to the events coordinator and president, and from there, my mission grew into a massive collaboration with Women in Communications. Newhouse administration finally got on board with this idea now that I had WIC backing me. I reconnected with Ashley’s agent, she looped Ashley herself into the email thread, and we got to planning, which was no easy task by any means: compromising on a date, setting a budget, booking flights, reserving a venue, writing press releases, pitching to the media, designing logos, promoting on social media, printing posters and the list goes on.

Months later, my team and I had proudly engineered every detail for an event that would be nothing but sheer perfection. It felt like my entire life’s work was counting on December 2, circled in red Sharpie on my calendar. Of course, Syracuse was so gracious to send us a kind gift the night prior to the day of the event — a snowstorm. My greatest takeaways from this winter weather advisory are ones that I’ll be sure to carry with me for the rest of my life: 1) Always expect snow in Syracuse; seasons are a myth. 2) It’s only acceptable to procrastinate studying for finals if it involves rebooking flights over the phone with American Airlines for hours, claiming Ashley as my client.

Luckily, everything worked out in our favor, and my team and I were successfully able to postpone the event for December 3. I put down my psychology notes for the rest of the night and focused on writing an updated press release and notifying the public on all platforms.

Eleven months and countless breakdowns later, I was incredibly proud to present and host Ashley Iaconetti as a guest of WIC and Newhouse. Frankly, this was a dream come true for me not because I had the opportunity to meet a talented TV personality, but because I persisted to turn my farfetched idea into a huge success. Who knew my infatuation with the ladies of Chris Soules’s season of “The Bachelor” would teach me such valuable professional advice so early in my college career: the importance of following up and following through.