Jasmine Bhardwaj

By Ivan Garcia

College seniors usually expect a challenging year. For Associated Students (AS) President Jasmine Bhardwaj, her senior year comes with distinct obstacles because of COVID-19.

“I just really miss being in person,” Bhardwaj said after months of shelter-in-place and distance learning. “It gets tiring being behind a computer.”

In addition to adjusting to a new college experience, Bhardwaj and her family have suffered hardships in recent months. Her family’s convenience store was the target of a fraud scheme, her car broke down, and her uncle passed away.

Despite the difficulties in the world and at home, Bhardwaj evokes hope that has followed her throughout her life.

“We’re living in strange times,” she said. “But some of the greatest change is happening now.”

For Bhardwaj, those positive changes came in the form of CSUMB rapidly addressing and adapting to the COVID-19 pandemic, responding to widespread actions against racism, and revisioning the educational experience. As AS president, Bhardwaj aspires to channel that change to develop resources for students needing support during the pandemic.

Some of her current ambitions include strengthening the agency of students by appointing them to various university committees, collaborating to develop a textbook scholarship open to all students, and urging civic engagement amidst a national election year.

Read more about Bhardwaj in the CSUMB magazine.