8
BEYOND
THE REVIEW I FEBRUARY 10, 2016
Facebook analyst advises presidential campaigns According to Pew Research Center, more than 60 percent of millennials get political Daisy Wolf (‘10) never envisioned that news from Facebook. her passion for politics would lead her to a “People are more likely to turn out to vote job at Facebook, but now she advises pres- when they’re reminded on Facebook that idential campaigns on fundraising through it’s Election Day and see that their friends the social media website. have voted,” Wolf said. “My junior year of college, I was looking On the advertising side, Facebook has for an internship in politics but decided to tools to target relevant content to specific apply to Facebook too because the oppor- groups of voters, which makes political ads tunity seemed especially interesting,” Wolf more engaging. said. “Facebook’s advertising tools help canMuch to her surprise, Facebook’s New didates tailor messages to specific audiencYork office offered her an internship in es,” Wolf said. “For example, a candidate 2013. Wolf then spent the summer work- can show an ad about preventing climate ing on marketing strategy. When she re- change only to people who are interested in alized they had an equivalent branch in the environment.” Washington, D.C. that focused on political These sophisticated tools are available to analysis, she reached out to Facebook and any political campaign or entity, from city found that they had a position open. council races to presidential elections. At Facebook, she worked with the federal Wolf says that the 12 years she spent at St. government and political campaigns. Her John’s have given her countless advantages. internship experiences also inspired Wolf to “I was that kid waiting outside the teachwrite her senior thesis on how the Obama er’s room at 6:50 in the morning of a test and Romney campaigns used Facebook in with a list of questions, and they put up the 2012 presidential election. with me,” Wolf said. “At St. John’s, the “I got to meet Facebook employees who teachers were endlessly devoted to us, and had partnered with both presidential they went above and beyond to help campaigns,” Wolf said. those who want to learn.” The summer before the Wolf actively participat2014 midterm eleced in Student Affairs tions, Wolf took a Council, dance and To interact with candidates full-time position musicals with her people used to have to go to friends. with Facebook after graduating “Receiving a a town hall or rally. Now people from Yale Univer- and candidates communicate via good education sity. gives a person Facebook every day, which gives countless advan“I love my job, and I think Face- more people a voice in the political tages in life. I book is contribloved the sense of process. uting positively to community at St. democracy,” Wolf John’s — both the said. “To interact with larger community and candidates, people used the sub-communities I was to have to go to a town hall or part of,” Wolf said. rally. Now, people and candidates comOne class that fostered Wolf ’s passion municate via Facebook every day, which for politics was her sophomore history class. gives more people a voice in the political She recalls some days where they spent process.” more class time discussing the 2008 presi-
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Daisy Wolf
PHOTO COURTESY OF DAISY WOLF
by Iris Chen
SOCIAL NETWORKING Daisy Wolf (‘10), an analyst at Facebook, advises political candidates on their social media campaigns. A Yale graduate, Wolf has worked with both the federal government and several presidential campaigns.
dential election than analyzing history. Wolf has maintained ties with many classmates. In 2011, she started her freshman year along with seven other SJS students. She roomed with Lauren Mellor-Crummey (‘10) in the freshman dorms. She is currently living with Olivia Herbert (‘10) in New York City. “There’s always a little apprehension about leaving your home, family and lifelong friends, but it went away pretty quickly. I was ready to live in a new place, meet different kinds of people and finally experi-
ence seasons,” Wolf said. “But it was nice to have people who knew exactly where I came from and had common experiences.” Wolf loves the excitement of a constantly changing environment. In the last month alone, she has traveled to New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C. and Las Vegas. “One of my favorite things about my job is there is no typical day. I’m on the road a lot to meet with various political campaigns and organizations and their ad agencies and consultants,” Wolf said.
Catching up with Swimming captains
Jeffrey Fastow (‘14)
Austin Allday (‘14)
Elena Skaribas (‘15)
I’m currently a sophomore at Dartmouth studying Philosophy and Economics. After spending the last three months in China, I’m happy to be back on the Dartmouth Ski Patrol, assisting injured skiers on emergency rescue missions at the local college mountain. In my free time I enjoy climbing and backpacking with friends around the area. Swimming has been nearly nonexistent from my life in college — it’s far too cold in New Hampshire for that — although I do like to live vicariously through my brother [Matthew ‘17], who’s on the swim team now. College has been great, but I miss the warm Texas weather, delicious southern food and the awesome SJS community. I’m counting down the days until I am back in Houston.
I’m currently a sophomore at the University of Texas pursuing a double major in Latin American Studies and Portuguese. I’m a member of Beta Upsilon Chi Fraternity, and I’m a volunteer Young Life leader at Crockett High School in South Austin. Aside from those two organizations, you can often find me searching for the best breakfast taco in Austin. This semester I am at Pontifícia Universidad Católica in Santiago, Chile, where I will be taking courses in international business, 20th Century Spanish Literature and foreign policy. I swim on my own maybe two to three times a week on a good week, just for fitness’s sake.
I’m currently a freshman at Southern Methodist University pursuing a pre-medical track and majoring in biological studies with a minor in psychology. I love school here at SMU, and a major part of my experience here is being a part of the swim team. Even though it’s rewarding, training on a Division I team has its challenges. I train for two hours twice a day for a total of 20 hours a week in addition to classes. I compete in sprint distance events and have seen my times improving over the course of the past six months. I’m headed to the American Athletic Conference Championships in Houston (Feb. 17 to 20) to compete with my team in hopes of winning the AAC title.