2023 Morgan alumni Aurora Smith was an important member of the Morgan PawPrint during her time at Morgan. Currently, she is attending Manhattanville College in New York and is expanding on what she learned during her time with the PawPrint.
Aurora is studying communications and media studies, and although she isn’t completely set on anything yet, she is interested in a career in social media, public relations, or event planning. She remarked on a few things when asked what drew her to the school. The school and campus are small, yet beautiful, containing a castle among other buildings. She also adored the location of the school, as it is a 45-minute train ride from the city and an hour-and-a-half drive home.
While at school, Aurora has worked on several projects, including being the director of photography on her friend Grady Fortier’s music video, The Overture. Grady is also a talented student at Manhattanville, writing and producing his own music, including 3 studio albums. She and her friends from school also filmed two other music videos, but during the process of this one specifically, she was in charge of the camera work and helped to edit it. Aurora said the creative process of The Overture was hard and that the editing process was “difficult but fun.”
Aurora is also involved in a journalism group at school. She explained that there was a journalism class at Manhattanville previously, but it wouldn’t be running during the spring 2024 semester. However, her friend Roo had access to the school’s journalism email and decided to get a group of friends together to continue the program. They enjoy going around to events on and off campus and writing about them.
After taking Journalism at Morgan, Aurora mentioned that it helped her immensely with her interview skills, which she now uses in the “real world’ and at school. She said she learned how to “talk to people and get out there,” especially at the beginning of her first semester. It also helped her become a better writer, which she appreciated for writing essays and such for school.
As for future Journalism students, Aurora was excited to give a word of advice. “Don’t hold back on any ideas you have. Any idea is a good idea!” She spoke about the process of planning articles and how a journalist should always reach out to English and Journalism teacher Leslie Chausse, even if they aren’t sure about an idea. “Become friends with Mrs. Chausse. She’s a great mentor.”
While there are many triumphs and good times at college, Aurora also admitted there are struggles. Managing being away from home has been a struggle for her, as she describes herself as a “family-oriented person.” Although it has gotten easier over time, making school feel like home was challenging at the beginning of semester one. However, she noted that her major is “pretty easy” and her schedule is deceptively flexible. Although she participates in extracurriculars with her friends, she is not a student-athlete, and therefore, doesn’t have practices or games that are mandatory to attend.
Aurora’s articles, specifically the ones about local businesses, are still used as examples for new Journalism students. Her influence on the Morgan Journalism continues through Mrs. Chausse.
