By Emma McRae

Like most students at SMU, Sriya Reddy had not expected the COVID-19 pandemic to last much longer than the summer of 2020. The sudden shift from the classic college experience to attending school completely online has challenged Sriya, but with newly learned lessons and a strong community behind her, she prepares to start her next chapter in life.

When coming back to school for her final year, Sriya faced the same challenges with online learning as other students.

"Fall semester I lost all of my academic interest," Sriya says. "I was taking all of these classes that I thought I would love, and I think in another life or another time I would have absolutely loved them and enjoyed it because I'm someone who loves school and loves learning."

Along with academic challenges, Sriya spent a lot of time adjusting the goals she had set for her senior year. As the new Editor-In-Chief of the Daily Campus (DC), Sriya had big plans for the organization. She wanted improve the DC by focusing on covering more content. However, the limitations put in place by the pandemic lead Sriya to change her plans.

"I shifted my focus from that to, okay let me just make sure that this place and this time is not a point of worry for people," Sriya says.

Despite all of the initial challenges, Sriya says the Daily Campus became one of her greatest encouragements throughout the difficulty of the past year.

After graduating, Sriya will implement her love of journalism in her work as a Report for America Corps Member with the Dallas Morning News, covering South Dallas.

photo credit: Emma McRae