It’s hard not to notice when you’re in a room with Shruti Kuppa. The former CIT student has a loud voice that commands attention wherever she goes (even when she doesn’t necessarily want it). This year, Shruti decided to uses her voice to help bring the Obama campaign to Carnegie Mellon. A native of Reston, Virginia, Shruti grew up close to Washington, D.C. with two parents who work for the government. “Dinner conversations, car rides, and family gatherings always turned into a discussion about current events, and my parents always tried to get my brother and me to be more politically aware,” she says of her childhood exposure to politics.
Her parents’ efforts paid off — Shruti volunteered to canvas in the 2008 presidential election and encouraged her friends to join her. She did a lot of campaign work in conjunction with the Obama office near her home, so when this year’s election got closer, it was easy for Shruti to make the effort to volunteer at Carnegie Mellon. “I knew that my time would be valuable since I was moving from one swing state to another,” Shruti notes.
With so many important issues hinging on this year’s election, it’s no wonder that Shruti is so dedicated to the campaign. She stresses the importance of the collegiate vote: “We are the future of America…It’s important for us to make our demographic’s opinions heard.” As for her own passion for politics, it stems from her own demographics and beliefs. “Let’s be real,” Shruti says, “I’m a woman from an immigrant family. Many issues we are currently debating over will directly affect my life.” She also places great faith in the democratic system, believing it’s the best way to bring about social and economic change.
When she’s not working for the Obama campaign, Shruti works as a TA for the university-wide required class, Computing at Carnegie Mellon. While she was originally enticed by the salary, Shruti finds that it’s rewarding to teach freshman. However, she notes that it can be a bit of struggle. “Since the class material isn’t inherently hard (just time consuming), some students blow off the course and then wonder why they did poorly.”
Shruti also recently made a significant life change — she changed her major and transferred between colleges in Carnegie Mellon. Shruti studied civil engineering in CIT for three semesters before decided to transfer into H&SS during winter break of her sophomore year. “I never really wanted to have a career in the [engineering] field, and my strengths were not being expressed fully in CivE,” Shruti says of her reasons for trasferring. She was registered for engineering classes for spring semester of 2012, but she was able to completely overhaul her schedule after a lot of phone calls and emails.
Now a policy and management and environmental policy double major with a minor in technology and policy, Shruti says that she’s much happier with her course of study. “I have had job offers and experiences that more directly fit with what I want to do with the rest of my life,” she says, “It’s great to feel that I can be good at what I love doing.”
Despite her newfound happiness, Shruti did face some criticism for switching majors. Engineering’s reputation as a rigorous major combined with the assumption that H&SS is somehow quantitatively easier than other Carnegie Mellon colleges created some backlash from friends who heard about Shruti’s transfer. Altogether though, her friends soon realized that she wasn’t taking the easy way out — she was genuinely better suited for her new majors.
As for her future aspirations, Shruti is still a bit undecided. She’s leaning towards becoming an environmental lawyer, but she’s also considering working on political campaigns. The question of a future doesn’t seem to concern her much though. “The world is full of opportunities,” she adds optimistically. Shruti may not know precisely where she’s going, but she knows she is finally on the right path.