{"id":7391,"date":"2025-11-19T20:16:22","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T20:16:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogschapman.wpenginepowered.com\/communication\/2025\/11\/19\/meet-heather-cantrell\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T06:20:55","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T06:20:55","slug":"meet-heather-cantrell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/communication\/2025\/11\/19\/meet-heather-cantrell\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Heather Cantrell!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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UPB x SGA Fall Concert ’25<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hello! My name is Heather. I\u2019m a sophomore majoring in Strategic Communication with a minor in Leadership Studies. I originally came to Chapman as an Exploratory student, but eventually found my place in the School of Communication. I\u2019m extremely excited and grateful to be a part of the Student Advisory Board!<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m from Temecula, California, so not too far from Orange. Orange has quickly become my new home, filled with friends who have turned into family and opportunities to explore the area and, of course, Chapman itself. Coming to college, I wanted to grow and was open to whatever that looked like. And although growth isn\u2019t always easy, it takes time, patience, and openness to new experiences, I\u2019m proud of how far I\u2019ve come and excited for the changes ahead.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Concert pics ft. Jorie (:<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I chose Chapman because it met everything I was looking for in a university: close but far enough from home, a safe campus, a medium-sized student body, plenty of leadership and involvement opportunities, and a well-developed program for exploratory students. And if I\u2019m being honest, two things that really sealed the deal were that first-year students could have cars and the lack of communal bathroom (because let\u2019s be real, that\u2019s a big deal). On a more serious note, coming to Chapman has been the best decision I\u2019ve made. It has been one of the most awakening, exciting, challenging, and character-building experiences of my life. I\u2019ve been challenged academically, socially, and personally, and I don\u2019t think any other school could have provided the exact transition I\u2019ve had or allowed me to meet some of my closest friends. Chapman truly feels like a family, and the more you get involved and embrace the journey rather than just focus on the outcome, the richer your experience will be.<\/span><\/p>\n

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My friend Elena and I at our OL banquet in ’25!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In terms of involvement, I\u2019m part of the Special Events and Traditions Committee of the University Program Board (UPB) and serve as an Orientation Leader (OL). I\u2019ve loved connecting with other students and supporting incoming Panthers. These roles have provided me with some of my favorite experiences at Chapman so far. Each time I think I\u2019ve reached my limit in connecting with the Chapman community, I\u2019m proven wrong. Apparently, I\u2019m not the introvert I thought I was coming to college, and I think I\u2019ve evolved into quite the opposite.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

My favorite classes I\u2019ve taken are Public Speaking with Sarah Downey, Personal Branding with Matt Prince, and Mass Communication with Brianna Pham. They have solidified that I belong in Strategic Communication and have opened my eyes to how upbeat and engaging classes can be. It definitely helps being surrounded by great peers as well!<\/span><\/p>\n

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Last beach trip of freshman year with my friend Kirsten.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I\u2019ve learned that growth isn\u2019t linear. It\u2019s one of those things that takes time and sometimes manifests through challenges. Outside of academics and involvements, I enjoy going to the beach (my favorite is Corona Del Mar), trying new vegan restaurants and coffee shops, thrifting, working out, cooking, baking, and spending time with my friends, family, and cat. In the future, I hope to pursue a career that aligns with my hobbies, such as one involving makeup, fashion, or lifestyle.<\/span><\/p>\n

Chapman has been incredibly meaningful to me. As long as I feel proud of myself, my life, my community, and my professional path, I\u2019ll feel satisfied. College has been the freest I\u2019ve ever felt, and I\u2019m so grateful for the opportunity to be here. Time has flown, and I\u2019ve been able to check many things off my bucket list while discovering even more opportunities I hadn\u2019t imagined. I came into Chapman as a social but reserved person. Now, although speaking with others still makes my heart race, face flush, and hands shake, I do it anyway because it\u2019s something I enjoy. The more I experience at Chapman, the more comfortable I become with myself and my ability to succeed.<\/span><\/p>\n

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My roomie Sunny and I at AXO date party spring ’25.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My biggest piece of advice is to go for the thing that seems scary because you\u2019ll never regret trying. One of my favorite quotes, which has been my phone lock screen for years, is: \u201cUncertainty is better than certain misery.\u201d If <\/span>you don\u2019t take a leap of faith, the answer is guaranteed to be no. But if you go for it, what if it\u2019s a yes?<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m here to help any students who need guidance with advising! Feel free to contact me at hcantrell@chapman.edu<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Student Advisory Board Member<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5538,"featured_media":7394,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"custom_author_name":"","chapman_pin_hero_slider":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,63,56],"tags":[112],"class_list":["post-7391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-scc","category-student-advisory-board","category-students","tag-schoolofcommunication"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/communication\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/communication\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/communication\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/communication\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5538"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/communication\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7391"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/communication\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7391\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7954,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/communication\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7391\/revisions\/7954"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/communication\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/communication\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/communication\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/communication\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}