Staff Highlight: Vikram Lakshmanan, KPU Event Manager
Thursday, March 12th, 2020, was the day that the American University community received the email that our campus was going online for the rest of the semester due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. For many, if not all of us, the world was and continued to be upside down. The things that once brought joy on campus were suddenly out of reach, I mean how was I supposed to go to The Bridge every afternoon? What I came to miss the most over the course of our preliminary online experience was the community. From the conversations amongst friends and other students with similar interests to just the atmosphere of working together on campus and creating something amazing.
Fast forward a couple of months, things took an even larger turn; we got the notice that we would not be going back to on-campus learning. This meant that I was (and still am) in the midwest until further notice. The greatest challenge with online learning is the isolation from the college experience we yearn for. Personable connections or intriguing conversations with fellow AU students offline seem to become the impossible.
In the midst of a tumultuous summer, I came across the Kennedy Political Union applications. I had worked in different on-campus organizations during my Freshman year and wanted to give another aspect of the AU experience a try. I had heard amazing things about KPU and decided to apply after talking to former staff, and those who took the opportunity to work on the team the year prior. To be completely honest, I did not attend a KPU event my first year at American University, I always thought about attending and getting to meet campus speakers, but the action never came to fruition. This is probably one of my biggest regrets of the time I had on campus. I was glad to have the opportunity to apply, it meant some normalcy in what, at the time, seemed to be the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Going online was the hardest tradition, with the constant reminder that the in-person element was gone but, to be blunt, staring at a computer screen for hours on end is: not fun.
Thinking about the year in perspective, I would have to say my favorite two favorite events this year are the Abby Philip x KPU, and the Fauci x KPU events, it most definitely is a tie. For me, the Abby Philip event really put into perspective news and the media, and how it affects us as a community. The Fauci x KPU event is very much the epitome of the scale of work the KPU team has taken on this year, I thought that it was a really unique experience too, not only to be a part of but also to learn from especially whilst having the first-hand experience in a global pandemic. When it comes down to the year of events KPU has had, I think the speakers have really been quite impactful, and have taught us, as students, to think about topics and issues in different ways.
Coming on board as an event manager to the KPU Production Team, I was unsure what to expect. What I didn’t expect was to walk away at the end of the school year being close friends with not only the four other team members on the production team but also with members across the KPU staff. The KPU team has not only shown diligence and duty to all aspects of the KPU experience but has personified the definition of adaptability and professionalism. Through my year at the Kennedy Political Union, I have not only come away with skills in managing events but how to be a better problem-solver and communicator. KPU created a community atmosphere that was much needed during this unprecedented year, and I am proud to call myself a KPU team member. I greatly look forward to actually meeting the team in person when COVID-19 restrictions allow, and I congratulate KPU on a very robust and impressive year.
