Hello Everyone! I hope everyone had an amazing winter break and is happy to be returning to campus! For the very first issue of my advice column for this semester, I wanted to talk about why I created this advice column. Normally, I would ask individuals what advice they want me to write about, but this time, I want to share my story again in case there are people who pick up the paper for the first time!
Before I dive deeper into why I created this advice column, I want to introduce myself. My name is Claire Hall and I am a senior at Christopher Newport University. I am majoring in communication and German with a minor in leadership studies. I am graduating in May 2026 with a Bachelors Degree!
Now, I know many of you are thinking, why did you choose to write this advice column? I stumbled upon the idea of creating an advice column randomly while working on the CNU Student Newspaper: The Captain’s Log. While searching through old newspapers from years and years ago, our old Editor-in-Chief found an advice column we used to have in our paper. I jokingly mentioned how cool it would be to start my own advice column, but then turned my joke into a reality. The second semester of my sophomore year, I experimented with the idea, writing more and more advice every week. I started loving it and continued to write advice.
However, there was another reason why I chose to start this advice column. Being the oldest in my family and a first generation college student, I had to learn everything on my own. I had to learn how to apply to colleges, how to use student loans, how to pick my major, practically everything. College for me then became more difficult to navigate as I didn’t receive much advice from my friends and family. My anxiety started to skyrocket and simple tasks started to feel incredibly daunting. However, after completing my first year of college, everything started becoming easier. I was able to navigate both my problems and my feelings.
The goal of my advice column was to touch the hearts of students; that no matter what their circumstances or issues are, they always have someone giving them helpful advice that may solve their problems. College can be hard, and I want my advice column to be an assistance to those who are lost or struggling. I want to be the person that I wish I had met when I started at Christopher Newport University.
However, now that I am almost graduating, I will no longer have an advice column in the paper, which made me decide to create my own website to continue what I enjoy doing the most! My goal is to not just help out my fellow students, but anyone who stumbles upon this advice column. I want to help as many people as I can with whatever life throws at them!
With that being said, if you would like to follow Claire’s Corner after I graduate, visit https://clairescorner8.wordpress.com/. I hope you guys enjoy my little corner of the world!
