Perhaps channeling the last-minute unknowns of a dead-heat campaign, it was mere weeks before graduation from California when Adisa Hargett-Robinson ’16 decided she’d rather report on politics than analyze it.

So, with her degree in political science in hand, she applied to a one-year journalism program at American University, which included internships at CNN and NPR. That led to work on the “Rebootcamp” website for the Military Times, which led to the Department of Veterans Affairs, where her work included producing internal training videos.

Then, as an employee at WTOP radio, she attended a fateful writing seminar.

“I got put into a room that I didn’t think I would be in and met a manager at ABC News,” Hargett-Robinson said. “We had a conversation, and three weeks later he asked me if I wanted a job.”

That led to a position at ABC in 2020, and since last summer, “home” has been GMA3, a daytime news program broadcast by the network. She has written and produced several digital stories at goodmorningamerica.com/author/Adisa_Hargett-Robinson.

She’d like to be in the field to report on the next election cycle. “What I’ve learned is that you can’t always expect things to automatically go the way you want them to or imagined they would,” said Hargett-Robinson, who won the Young Alumni Award in 2022. “You have to forge your path and create the future you want.” It also helps to show up to everything, introduce yourself to everyone and be prepared for those connections to pay off.

“My first week at Cal, they sent an email to the poli sci majors for a meet-and-greet, and I went and talked to Dr. Blumberg, who was such an inspiration and advocate for me,” Hargett-Robinson said. “My first internship in media was at C-SPAN because I went to a networking event that Rhonda Gifford (from Career Services) told me about in Pittsburgh, and the girl next to me interned there before and put me in touch with the hiring director. “It is really just imperative to expand your network and use those resources.”