Sophomore Kriti Pendyala is currently in her first year of journalism. Pendyala describes herself as an extrovert with a passion to connect with others. In her downtime, she likes baking and crafting, as well as spending time with her friends. Dance has been a life-long pursuit of hers, rooting back to her childhood days. As her parents like to recall it, Pendyala would dance along to famous tunes and be captivated by dance shows put on television. In the future, Pendyala sees herself double majoring in journalism and engineering, with aspirations to attend either UC Berkeley or UC Irvine. Her ultimate goal is to become a data scientist, a job heavily influenced by her parents, who are data scientists. Pendyala hopes to stay in California, but is open to living in new places like Anahiem or Orange County, where she can get a change of scenery yet stay close to her family and roots. Pendyala greatly values humor, and believes it is beneficial to always be laughing, and to not take things to heart. She holds the viewpoint that having a sense of humor can bring others joy. Pendyala abides by the mantra of being yourself. Though it may seem pretty straight forward, she feels people overlook this piece of advice, but by instilling this into her own life, she has been able to protect her mental well being. Coming into the new school year, she wishes to report on topics like the experiences of different minorities. Pendyala is eager to dive into the world of journalism and make her mark.