Hillary Thilavong ’23 Selected for Prestigious Multicultural Students in Advertising Program

How does it feel to be recognized as one of the nation’s top multicultural students in advertising? Johnson & Wales University student Hillary Thilavong ’23 can tell you.

The Media & Communication major will join the 2024 American Advertising Federation (AAF)’s Most Promising Multicultural Students cohort, which selects only 50 out of thousands of applicants each year to connect with the advertising industry.

While wrapping up her studies in time to graduate this December, Hillary can’t wait to meet other top students from around the country in February at an exclusive expo in New York, interacting with some of the nation’s top agencies.

Here, Hillary shares what her JWU journey has been like, how she kept the biggest secret of her life while at JWU, what she hopes to accomplish next and what she’d tell other multicultural students with a passion for their industry.

Not Your Average Classroom: JWU's Directed Experiential Education (DEE)

Despite graduating a semester early through JWU’s Special Honors and Rewards Program (SHARP), Hillary has packed a ton into her 3.5 years here — including multiple DEE experiences.

For instance, in a DEE with WPRI Channel 12, Hillary helped to configure the Center for Media Production to entice the idea of having the station’s news anchor do live broadcasting at JWU, finding it “a very cool experience!”

In her DEE with JWU’s admissions marketing team, Hillary created architectural and production pitches through TikTok segments for accepted students that showed what it was like to be a JWU student. She says, “It was really fun to be kind of an influencer for the university!”

"I loved how hands-on and real [JWU's DEE] experience is...You’re working with clients from a local or even national level — and you get to work with students different majors, so there’s an interdisciplinary aspect, too.” - Hillary Thilavong '23

In yet another DEE, Hillary’s group partnered with the Providence Performing Arts Center (PPAC) to create a Disney Musical in Schools promotional video encouraging K-5 students to participate in theatrical arts. Their video:

“It was so great to be able to reach out to students in urban and low-income communities that may not have the resources to take part in theatrical arts,” Hillary shares.

“Overall, I loved how hands-on and real the experience is,” she says of JWU DEEs. “Unlike a lecture, you’re working with clients from a local or even national level — and you get to work with students different majors, so there’s an interdisciplinary aspect, too.”

Ad-ding to JWU’s ADTEAM

As a fourth DEE, Hillary participated in JWU’s Advertising Team (ADTEAM), which forms a relationship with a high-profile client each year. Students can join ADTEAM as a campus club or for course credit. During her three years on ADTEAM, Hillary has worked on campaigns for Meta/Facebook, Indeed.com and Tide.

ADTEAM was fun for Hillary, but also rigorous. “It’s like you’re working in a real ad agency, so it requires dedication and time to doing research and brainstorming what ad executions will look like,” she explains.

ADTEAM takes project requests and adds a twist for clients through research, design and videos. “JWU has lots of very talented students, so I got to work with peers in graphic design, design your own major, advertising & marketing — all different majors come together to create,” says Hillary.

JWU’s ADTEAM is also competitive, last year winning first place at the districts level of the National Student Advertising Competition in Boston. This year, the team traveled to New York to hear amazing presentations from industry leaders.

<<Read Hillary’s write-up of their “Ad-venture in the Big Apple" >>

Hillary’s College Community

Faculty have had a big impact on Hillary’s JWU journey — particularly Professor Chris Westgate, who Hillary credits for several of her opportunities. “[He] is so supportive and personable, and that’s been very meaningful on my JWU journey,” she shares. “He’s always looking out for students, and I can’t thank him enough!”

As a huge foodie and traveler, Hillary has also being part of a city community. “Providence is a place waiting for people to explore,” says Hillary, who loves trying new cuisines or visiting Thayer Street with friends. “Exploring the city and sharing a meal together was meaningful, especially when we were working on long projects or finals in the production center for many hours,” she adds. “We would support each other as friends and well as classmates.”

Hillary has also served as vice president of JWU’s Media Production Club for the past two years. “As someone who came from a vocational school and wanted to find something hands-on with videos and camera production, the club ended up being a place where I could be myself as a storyteller and be able to work with the friends I met,” she says. “It has been a great place to create a sense of community and work on my skills with cameras.”

Why Hillary Chose JWU

As a local, born and raised close to Providence, Hillary had enjoyed seeing the “creative capital” constantly evolving, but her main concern in 2020 was the pandemic. “I didn’t know what would happen with COVID, so I wanted to be close to home,” she says.

She quickly found that JWU had much more to offer than location: “I feel like JWU takes pride in experiential education and learning, and I feel that value has translated into my experiences.”

“When researching schools I loved the thought of working with actual clients through DEEs, and it truly has been great to do that on both a local and national scale,” adds Hillary.

“A Thrilling Experience, for Sure”

Two summers ago, when Hillary was interning with the Rhode Island Film Festival, she was contacted by JWU Director of Digital Communications Laurie Roberts to co-share her RIFF experience on JWU’s Instagram account along with Hillary’s friend and classmate CJ Perrone ‘24.

“I felt like a celebrity,” recalls Hillary. “I made sure I had a nice outfit for the camera — it was a pretty huge deal!”

She continued creating content for JWU for the next two years, aligning with her advertising minor. “I’ve been able to apply a lot of foundations of advertising into my JWU employment,” she shares. “It was a great opportunity to not only have a professional way to start my social media career but also build on personal skills by being more open and less camera-shy.”

She even applied her interest in photography, creating a video for JWU that highlighted scenic areas around Providence for people to visit and capture.

The Big Secret

“My sister has this quote: ‘Dreaming is free, yet a lot of people don’t do it,’” says Hillary. “I love TED Talks and seeing people on stage sharing their story, and I thought JWU’s commencement would be a great place to give that a shot.”

She submitted a speech to the committee — but kept it a surprise from her family. Faculty and staff at JWU were in on the secret, from professors coaching her as she rehearsed to Manager of Internal University Communications Lynzi DeLuccia helping her furtively coordinate logistics. 

Hillary feels she accomplished a lot through her family. “It was challenging as a first-generation student to lack the perspective of people with past educational experience,” she shares. “But my family provided so much support in different means outside of education, and I particularly wanted to highlight my father.”

Her speech included a recipe for success, inspired by her father’s creation of fried rice. “I wanted to infuse a part of myself into that speech,” Hillary explains.

On commencement day, she convinced her father that everything was normal, including her posing for a photo with JWU Providence Campus President Marie Bernardo-Sousa.

Then Hillary got on stage, flawlessly delivering the speech she had rehearsed for so many friends and JWU community members. “My sister shared that my dad, usually such a stoic person, cried seeing me up there,” she shares. “He says it’s one of the best days he’s ever experienced.”

The Most Promising Multicultural Student (MPMS) Program

Professor Oscar Chilabato alerted Hillary that MPMS was accepting applications. “I wanted to tell my story as a first-generation Lao-American student and get my foot in the door,” she says. But she was nervous; the prestigious program drew a lot of competition.

Her driving force was the support of her JWU professors. “They were so supportive with technical feedback and recommendation letters,” Hillary shares. Her application had to include volunteer experience, such as when Hillary took senior portraits for past high school students or served as an adjudicator for a women’s film festival.

It was unnerving to be assigned as “Applicant 7508” during the process, but Hillary kept going. “I thought, whatever happens, happens; I put best my foot forward and had a great story to tell,” she says.

Selected! What Next?

Hillary is excited to meet 49 other top students pursuing advertising — and big-named clients. “It’s such a great networking experience to meet other devoted, passionate, talented students, but also network together with industry leaders!” she exclaims.

She also hopes to meet others who love to travel and want to explore New York with her. “That would translate experiences into long-lasting friendships as I start my career,” she says.

Overall, Hillary is thrilled. “It’s really nice to be recognized and honored and ready to share my story even more,” she says. “This opens the world to my narrative and my career so far.”

Hillary’s Future Plans

Short-term, Hillary wants to work somewhere city-integrated. “Every city is unique and has something to offer,” she says.

Long-term, her dreams incorporate some type of travel, food and content creation, whether that means copywriting, blogging, photography or videography. “Manifesting all of these together would be my ultimate career, and I hope to apply what I’ve learned at JWU to that job,” says Hillary.

 “Storytelling is my calling. I want to discover myself but also embrace and build upon the skills I’ve gained throughout the years,” she adds.

Advice to Similar Students with Dreams

"You have so much to share and bring to the table, and your identity, culture and traditions should be something you take pride in" - Hillary Thilavong '23

“Oftentimes as first-gen and multicultural students trying to figure things out, it’s challenging to navigate what we want to do while trying to find ourselves within a dominant culture,” Hillary reflects. “We feel we need to mask our identity and voice.”

Her advice: “Don’t do that! You have so much to share and bring to the table, and your identity, culture and traditions should be something you take pride in.”

If you’re a first-gen student of color, bring that to the forefront, she says: “That sets you aside from other people and makes you unique.”

Her final word: “Your identity as a woman, a minority, whoever you are, doesn’t prevent you from being listened to. Embed that into your story, work hard and dream big.”

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