By Molly Barresi

Every spring, I have stood at the Boulevard Team booth for Be Belmont Day, and every spring I hear the phrase “I watch #TakeoverThursday every week!” at least fifty times. As Belmont University’s most-watched social media campaign with at least 3,000 weekly viewers, it’s not shocking that so many perspective students recognize it. 

 

For those who don’t know, #TakeoverThursday is a weekly series that focuses on one Belmont University community member through their day on the university’s Instagram story. Typically, the series follows a student, but faculty and alumni have also taken part.  

 

I have been part of Belmont’s student social media team, The Boulevard Team, since my freshman year and most of my responsibility has been leading most of the university’s Instagram content calendar. A lot of what the university posts on Instagram comes from one of the six Boulevard Team members. Most of freshman year was helping the upperclassmen with different projects, like the Why Belmont Wednesday series on Youtube. My sophomore year, most of those upperclassmen graduated, and I was left to “take over” the #TakeoverThursday campaign. 

 

For the past three years I have recruited and supervised about 94 #TakeoverThursday stories.  I have seen the great ones, and I have seen the less great ones. In the Boulevard Team’s Takeover Hall of Fame, we have Tori Capps (Class of 2020), Noah Cornelius (Class of 2023), and Levi Blaser (Class of 2021) among others. All three of these Takeovers did all or most of five things that can help make your Takeover one of the best. 

 

 

• Go off campus—Just because it’s a “Belmont” takeover does not mean it has to happen only at Belmont. The takeover is about you and what you do on a regular day as a student. Don’t be afraid to hit up your favorite spot(s) off campus! Perspective students want to see what there is to do off-campus as well.  

• Answer some questions—but the Takeover is not the place to post your 25 minute Q&A. Perspective students may feel more comfortable asking their questions to peers than to an admissions counsellor, so you are more than welcome to answer some questions about Belmont. Don’t answer them all though. It’s best to answer the questions that ask specifically about your experiences or maybe even some odd ball questions. 

• Showcase your projects, hobbies, or talents—Belmont is a very creative environment, and most of us are working on some sort of project or performance during any given day. If you have a project you’ve been working really hard on, show it off! Practicing for a performance? Show us! Have a hobby that you’re passionate about! Let us know! Part of what makes Takeover interesting is seeing what makes you, you!

• Introduce yourself—and make it big! Let the audience know who you are by answering all the classic, ice-breaker questions (year, major, minor, etc.) but you don’t have to just stare and the camera and say it. We’ve seen Full House style intros, musical intros, and middle-of-sports-practice intros. Some great examples are Levi Blazer’s paparazzi opener and Noah Cornelius’s morning-radio-like self-introduction. 

• Show off your favorite on-campus spot—One of the most asked #TakeoverThursday questions is “what’s your favorite spot on campus?” Go there! Be specific! Bonus points if it’s a pretty, hidden corner of campus (It doesn’t have to be though, mine is literally the corner of the caf that looks at 15th and the lawn between Johnson and Baskin.)

 

 

If you follow these guidelines, your #TakeoverThursday (or any social media takeover) is sure to be a hit. The whole point of #TakeoverThursday is to show the world how awesome our students are and how those amazing people fill their days. Not too hard, right? 

 

 Interested in being featured? Email Molly Barresi at molly.barresi@pop.belmont.edu 

Molly Barresi is a senior public relations major from Cincinnati, OH. Apart from the Boulevard Team, she is part of Belmont University’s Public Relations Bateman Team for 2020-2021 and is a member of PRSSA. While she enjoys writing, she is passionate about crafting and conducting meaningful social science research. When she isn’t getting too excited about a research project, she can be probably be found at McDougal’s Chicken on 21st Avenue.