Transfer Student Brings Fashion Sense and More to American University

It has always Kathleen Holohan’s dream to be a part of the fashion industry. When she finally got there after getting into LIM, or the Laboratory Institute of Merchandizing, a fashion school in New York City, she decided it wasn’t for her. It was this realization that brought Kathleen to the campus of American University in Washington DC this spring semester, somewhere she never thought she would be.

“I was so scared to transfer at first because it was my first time away from home,” said the New Hyde Park New York native, “I thought that transferring as a mid-semester sophomore was going to mean everybody already had a group of friends and I was going to have no one.”

To the contrary, 19-year-old Holohan had no trouble meeting fellow transfer students her age, and she quickly found two best friends, bonded with a roommate, and decided to pledge the sorority Delta Gamma, which she says has been her favorite part of American University so far. Pledging Delta Gamma has allowed for Holohan to meet new people, people who she says are nice and fun and have made her transition here an easy one.

You can take the girl out of fashion, but you can’t take the fashion out of the girl. This new girl on campus has caught the eye of many of the students with her long blond hair and overall trendy look.

“She is always so well dressed and wearing the cutest clothes” said sophomore student from Denver Colorado, Tia Chang, who is friends with Holohan and admires her background in fashion.

Clothes and fashion are still a major part of Holohan’s life here at American University, even though American is not usually a campus known for its fashion. Holohan can always be seen wearing trendy scarves, ballet flats, and Gossip Girl inspired headbands while walking to her classes and chatting with friends along the way.

Roommate to Holohan, sophomore cheerleader Lisa Suda, says that living with her is fun and she likes her curiosity, saying that she always has many questions to ask and wants to know what is going on around campus.

“Her best quality is definitely her cleanliness and safety consciousness. Kathleen is overall a great roommate and she lets me share clothes with her, which is a plus” Suda said.

According to Danielle Rocchio, a current student at LIM and friend and co-worker to Holohan, she has worked in many areas of fashion, volunteering and the Gen Art Fresh Faces in Fashion Show in New York City, as well as participating in charity fashion shows for the Americana of Manhasset, a New York shopping center famous for its frequent appearances by stars such as Ashanti and LL Cool J.

With all of this experience in an industry so different from the atmosphere at American, one might ask, why give it all up? The main reason Holohan made the decision to transfer to American University was Kogod School of Business, which she was greatly impressed with upon visiting the campus.

“I didn’t like LIM the way I thought I would. It was always my dream to commute into the city on a daily basis but I wanted the option of going into other areas of business other than fashion when I graduated and Kogod is one of the better business schools that I could apply to” Holohan said.

Besides being drawn to American University by the exceptional academic program, Holohan especially loves the part about being on her own for the first time. She is enjoying the DC area and has made frequent trips to movies, restaurants, the monuments, and the shopping areas, Georgetown being one of her favorite areas to visit on the weekends.
Holohan does not like to be stereotyped as a “party girl” but she does admit to going out often on the weekends as part of the college experience that she missed out on her freshmen year at LIM.

“Me and my two best friends like to go out to clubs and frat parties, which has really helped me to make a lot of new friends, but I try to balance my time between school and fun, and so far my classes have been going well with what I’ve been doing” Holohan said.

Maybe this new girl on campus will bring more than her fashion sense and outgoing personality to AU. Holohan feels that American is a great outlet to do the many things she is passionate about that she hasn’t had the opportunity to do.

“AU has been great to me so far and hopefully I’ll stop being called ‘New Girl’ soon” Holohan said.