Lauren J. Mapp, a contributing editor for Times of San Diego, was named the outstanding 2019 graduate of San Diego State University‘s School of Journalism and Media Studies.

Mapp, who is receiving her bachelor’s degree this weekend, works a weekday afternoon shift at Times of San Diego, posting articles on a wide range of local topics.

During her time at SDSU, she has interned for inewsource, a nonprofit investigative news service, and served as an editor for The Daily Aztec student newspaper.

“My experience in my major has helped me immensely to learn how to establish my personal brand and promote my work as a journalist through my professional social media channels,” said Mapp. “In a current media climate where there are fewer and fewer opportunities to work as a journalist, I am confident that the vast array of skills that I have learned from my professors at SDSU has prepared me to be a diverse, multimedia journalist.”

Mapp, who transferred to SDSU from Mesa College, was awarded four scholarships during her last year of studies. In 2018, she received a fellowship to attend the Columbia School of Journalism’s Investigative Reporters and Editors Conference.

She is also working an outside job to help pay for her college tuition and expenses, and notes, “I have grown through the experience of working long hours to pay for school in that I have learned how to multitask better while orchestrating a complicated work/school/extracurricular activity schedule.”

Mapp is one of 11 students recognized as outstanding graduates of the different individual schools in SDSU’s College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts.

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