Caresse Ley, social media intern for Ottawa Fashion Week, has found her niche within the fashion clique of Ottawa.
A third-year journalism and history student at Carleton, she is writing her end-of-day recaps on Ottawa Fashion Week’s (OFW) official Facebook account.
While live-updating the official OFW Twitter account before the shows, her perseverance is evident as she hopes for a future as a journalist.
Her volunteer work for the city’s official fashion week has granted her practice and real-world experience.
“Ottawa Fashion Week has been a really great way to learn more about fashion writing and textiles,” she said. “It’s been a really amazing week so far.”
From the moment she stepped into her first university classroom, she has taken her passion for clothing and transformed it into a tangible reality.
“Not everyone understands fashion shows,” Ley explained.
“They [say] ‘oh, you have a regular dress with crazy hair and makeup,’ but if you understand it, it’s so artsy and I have such passion for it all.”
She draws inspiration from the beautiful local designs, and the wonderful community that surrounds her. This impacted her writing in an ideal and positive way.
Growing up in the town of Barrie, Ont., Ley says she inadvertently fell into journalism, but she does not regret choosing Carleton.
She has the utmost respect for her professors and her peers, with whom she connected with over the past three years.
“As a person, Carleton journalism changed my entire life,” she said.
“In high school I was the total nerdy kid, well I still am, but I feel like I’ve gotten to come out of my box.”
“I [met] the best people who I’d never trade for the world – inside and outside the program.”
She admits that journalism is an arduous and ever-growing process, of which she will continue to learn and grow from at a pace she never expects.
However, as any other aspiring journalist, Ley holds her fears close, but her dreams closer.
“Anybody who’s in the program just really wants to produce the best product they can, and you want to give journalism a good name.”
“You don’t want to be one of those bad journalists who gets their facts wrong. You just want to be good.”
She has met her ups and downs, but manages to maintain a straight direction, and focuses on where she is headed.
“You hit so many moments where you think ‘oh god, I’m never going to get there,’ ‘it’s not me,’ but you keep pushing on.”
“I really want to see myself as a working journalist who has overcome all of my fears about making it into the industry, moving up and being a valued part of a team.”
She added that she wants to continue “upholding the standards that they teach us in j-school.”
