Ms. Trently talks social media, boxing, beagles, and what she would tweet if the world was ending.
Colin Price ‘18, Desmond Papariello ‘18

This month we interviewed Ms. Sarah Trently. She runs Malvern’s social media sites, and is part of the Communications team.

What is an average day like for you here at Malvern?
I start my day by checking Malvern’s primary social media sites. Those are Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. I will then respond, retweet, favorite, or share anything that happened overnight, because I don’t check the sites at eleven o’clock at night (laugh). After that I have a social media schedule that I do every Monday, and I check it at the beginning of every day just to see what needs to be posted, what is going on in the day at Malvern. Then I will post accordingly, or make sure everything is scheduled and ready to go. I keep a to-do list of what I need to do. I will update Malvern’s website, and continue to monitor Malvern’s social media sites. I will also research and collect data about latest trends on social media.

Explain what you do exactly?
I love this question. People must think “what do you do?” or “what is your job name?” My official title is Social Media and PR specialist. Primarily, my job is to spread the good work of Malvern’s faculty, staff, students, and alumni via social media. I keep the community updated on events, and things like that. I am also responsible for running Malvern’s social media sites. I need to know who are we connecting with. Are we making the appropriate connections? Are things happening the way things are supposed to happen?

Do you feel that the social media outlets do a good job of getting news out to students?
I don’t. What I would actually like to do is talk to a group of students, and figure out how do you get your information, do you follow any of Malvern’s sites, what is the best way for me to share information directly with you? On the flipside, I feel that Twitter gets the news out best to students. Instagram is also big. When I check Instagram, most of the likes and comments are from students.

Where are you from? What’s your background?
I was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. I have lived in Chester County for about seven years. I went to Immaculata University for college. I graduated in 2011 with my bachelors in communication. Then I enrolled at West Chester University in 2012 for my masters in public administration. I just graduated this past summer. I served a year with Americorps with the Chester County Department of Community Development. We worked with the homeless population of Chester County.
How was the transition to Malvern? How are you liking it so far?
I started on August 1st. This is my first year. The transition was pretty seamless. I just finished serving a year with Americorps for the 2013-14 calendar year. So I finished that on July 2, and came to Malvern on August 1. Everyone was very welcoming. I enjoy working here. Everybody is so nice. I feel the mission really comes across in day-to-day life here.

What’s your favorite social media outlet?
I love Instagram. It is my favorite outside of malvern. But I love this app called Pocket. Pocket is an app that you can save articles you want to read at a later date or save to show people. I love that, because with so much going on I don’t have as much time to read all the articles I want. So Pocket and Instagram are my favorite.

Do you feel like you interact with the students as much as you would like to?
No. I would really love to be out interacting with the students more than I do. Since I am not a teacher it is hard to interact, but i would really love to talk to everyone more. I am really hoping to get involved.

Do you have any special hobbies that not everyone would know about?
I am very interested in boxing. I joined the UFC gym in Exton. They offer classes for boxing, kickboxing and I would love to start some jiu-jitsu. I am a runner, and I feel like both boxing and running are tough mentally and physically, and I really like that about them.

In the event of a mass extinction, what animals do you think would survive over others?
This was a very hard question. My typical answer would be a cockroach because they have survived over 250 years. They can survive without their head. This is ridiculous, but my future in-laws have four beagles. One beagle is close to 14 years old, and he has eaten anything you can imagine, and I really believe that in the event of a mass extinction he could survive. I could see him roaming the earth just barking at everything. So my answer would be either a cockroach or my in laws fourteen year old beagle.

What would you tweet in the event of a mass extinction?
End of the world tweet: “Our hearts were restless, but now they rest in you.”