Humans of Oxford | James Oaks — Official Miami snapchat-er

By Elizabeth Hanson, For The Miami Student

James Oaks is only a first year, but his face is known throughout campus.

During his first four months at Miami, he met the former Secretary of Defense and Seth Meyers.

How?

James is the official Snapchat-er of Miami University.

"It's really cool because there are over 18,000 students here that have a lot of pride in their campus so we get to show it off to the rest of the world," says James.

James landed his job through a high school internship with his district's communications director running their Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. He's now able to pitch his own ideas for the Miami Snapchat feed, including the newest feature, "Oh Snap!" in which all the events going on around campus are featured.

"We receive snaps from Miamians all over the world so it's neat to see just how expansive our reach is," says James.

His Snapchat internship has even earned him an additional job producing digital content for the hockey and football teams.

"I was at a hockey game taking a bunch of videos and I edited together a little recap from the hockey game," James says. "Within two hours, I got hired by the hockey and football teams."

James' first-year college experience has been different compared to that of other first-years, but, for him, having the opportunity to provide a behind-the-scenes look into what goes on around campus has been a great experience.

"It's definitely made the first year of college a lot more fun," James says. "This has been a great way to kind of start off college just because I've been able to go to a lot of great things that I probably wouldn't have gone to without the job. It's allowed me to share unique parts of Miami that many people might not get to see everyday."