About Me

By Sanika Bhargaw

Hello and welcome! My name is Sanika, and what follows is a little more about me. I'm currently a junior at the University of Southern California (USC), pursuing a degree in Broadcast & Digital Journalism. I'm originally from the Chicago area, but I love living in Los Angeles while I can. (Basically, I don't miss Chicago winters - I hate the cold.)

I spent the first 17 years of my life (and then some) in the northwest suburbs of Chicago with my parents and, for a few years, a cat. I'm the only child, which some people say is lonely, but it suited me well. I'm naturally a pretty solitary and independent person, so being an only child gave me a lot of time and space on my own. Possibly as a result, I fell in love with books, writing and words early on; my family and I like to joke that I basically lived in our local library. My parents limited me to one trip a week, and I would load up on books every time, but I always finished them about halfway through the week and nagged my parents constantly to take me back.

That love of words is what led me to journalism early in my high school career, and I fell in love with both the storytelling and the news/factual aspect within a few weeks of taking a class. I think it seemed a very noble endeavor - trying to tell people's stories while also informing a wider audience. I started in print, spending two years on my high school's newspaper staff. I loved the detail and depth and research that went into print stories, and I came into USC intending to continue on that path, when I discovered broadcast. The strong visual element in broadcast completely captured my attention, and trying to find something visually compelling to complement a story was so exciting.

Now that I'm on the broadcast path, my dream job in the future would be an on-camera reporter doing either foreign correspondence or political correspondence for a media organization. I don't know where I would like to do foreign correspondence - the Middle East and Asia are regions of particular interest, but I would be open to going pretty much anywhere. Finding important and engaging stories to tell in a completely different place presents a whole other set of challenges, but I think that is exciting. I've also felt like the media (at least here) doesn't focus enough on foreign and international news, and I'd like to be a part of shifting that.

Beyond journalism and my career, the other two most important things in my life are dance and travel. I danced Indian classical dance for several years when I was younger, and growing up in an Indian family in general just meant dance was always part of my life. At USC, I found my niche (and my second family) in the Ballroom & Latin Dance Team. When I'm not working, I spend most of my time in lessons, at competitions or just spending time with the team. It's a wonderful stress reliever combined with a rush of adrenaline, and it keeps me moving.

Travel is...the one thing I would choose over journalism if someone paid me just to travel. (That's unlikely, hence the desire to do foreign correspondence.) I adore travel. I think travel teaches you so much about yourself as well as other people and cultures. Every place has a different language, different history, different food and more, and I find it impossible not to broaden your horizons if you travel. I've spent a portion of the last three summer abroad: Ireland in 2014, five cities in Europe in 2015, Rio de Janeiro in 2016. All three trips were such huge learning experiences, and I came back from each as a different person. All that travel also pushed me to start actually writing and sharing stories from my journey as well.

I can't think of anything else important about me that I left out, so that's all for now. Thanks!