~ Meet Ti ~

The name's Tiaira, but she goes by Ti because Tiaira makes it sound like she's in trouble. Unless you're her mother... and in that case, maybe she still is in trouble.

Tiaira Muhammad is a junior at the University of Southern California pursuing a dual degree in broadcast and digital journalism and political science. Initially focused on becoming a political reporter, Muhammad worked for the student-produced campus news show, Annenberg TV News, for two years at the university. She's held positions as an assignment editor (when that was a thing), floor manager and a multimedia journalist. Muhammad prefers video and images as her preferred way of storytelling. She wanted to become a broadcast reporter because in the words of Maya Angelou, "people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." Muhammad believes the small screen is one of the best ways to evoke an emotional response from an audience, and wanted to use broadcast journalism as a way to raise social consciousness.

Since then, her time with Annenberg TV News has landed her internship opportunities with The Wrap, Lionsgate Entertainment and Santa Monica City Hall. However, after taking the summer to reflect on previous journalism internships, she realized she hasn't truly felt fulfilled. Her recent summer internship at the City of Santa Monica was the first time Muhammad actually felt like she was contributing to something substantial as an intern. The first internship where she could actually envision herself working professionally in the future. Muhammad's internship experience at the City of Santa Monica has led her to pursue a new career path outside of the realm of journalism: local government.

During her time at City Hall, Muhammad interned in the Office of Communications where she helped facilitate internal communications between fifty City departments and divisions, and published external information for the local community. As the Office of Communications is only six-months strong, Muhammad was able to get very hands-on during her internship and standardize public information for the City, ranging from social media, to press releases, and local newsletters. She also helped navigate and coordinate long-term projects like the expansion of the Metro Expo Line to Downtown Santa Monica and the Downtown Community Plan project.

Muhammad is now pursuing a progressive degree for a Masters in Public Administration with a local government concentration, so she can have a seat at the table during the decision-making process. Hailing from Inglewood, California, she hopes to work for a local government within an inner city to represent underrepresented groups in the United States. Her passion for advocating for disaffected minorities is what led Muhammad to serve on the executive board for the Black Student Assembly, the USC National Association of Black Journalists, and the First-Generation Student Union. She also volunteers through the Norman Topping Student Aid Fund, to help youth in the local South Central area surrounding USC. Muhammad hopes to use her soft skills through her journalism degree, and technical experiences to become a city manager for cities with dense minority populations.

On her spare time, Muhammad loves to explore places to eat around Los Angeles, hike and consume all things Harry Potter.