Mediaplanet sat down with Samantha and Madeleine Caleon, who shared their advice for students as they transition to post-secondary life.
What led you to start your YouTube channel and other social channels?
We were always avid watchers of family vloggers growing up and always found it fascinating to be able to get to know the lives of people whom we idolize online. One day we decided to make our own videos just like them, for fun! We had no intention of it becoming what it is today and really saw it as a pastime to have fun together as sisters. When we started getting attention on our social channels, that was when we realized that we were becoming the people that we idolized and watched growing up. This is why we want to be role models and a good influence for our viewers!
Were you a part of any school clubs and activities? Why is it so important that students get involved?
During our early years all the way up to high school we were involved in a couple of extracurricular activities such as volleyball, ultimate frisbee, dance team, choir and band. We find that it’s important for students to get involved as it teaches them many life skills, one main skill being time management. Also, skills learned in the classroom are applied in many extracurricular activities and teaches students to be more well-rounded.
Understanding you started your YouTube careers as first year students, how did you find balance between classes, YouTube, and mental health?
We made it a point to establish what was a priority to us. We always knew that school would come first. If we had several assignments and tests in the same week, we would put off filming for our social media accounts. At one point in time, we went a couple of months without posting just so that we could concentrate on studying. Besides this, we made sure we made time for ourselves by doing things we enjoyed doing. Family time was a big thing for us, and stepping aside from social media and even studying for a couple of hours in a day to spend time with our family was something we would do to make sure that we were taking care of our mental health.
What is your biggest piece of advice for incoming students?
The biggest piece of advice we could give to incoming students would be to take care of their physical and mental well-being. Post-secondary school can be stressful and very overwhelming at times, and we think it’s so important that students are in a good place mentally and physically in order to put their best self forward in tackling what post-secondary school brings.
