My name is Addison Simmons, and I am a fourth-year student at the University of Georgia majoring in journalism at Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. I intend to graduate with Cox Institute's News Literacy certificate and a minor in english as well. 

I began my first semester with Grady in Aug. 2024, and have already gained a plethora of experience and knowledge through courses such as Journalism Ethics and Diversity, Law of Mass Communication, Photojournalism and Reporting I, II, and III. In Reporting I, I had the opportunity to report community events such as Historic Athens Porchfest and a Jackson County Board of Commissioners Meeting. I conducted interviews with UGA students and professors such as Dr. Nik Heynen in the Department of Geography and interviewed Athens residents about the 2024 elections at the polls. 

In the future, I hope to work towards becoming a photojournalist with an emphasis in sustainability. My passion for journalism lies in continuously learning new things about people, places and cultures all around the world. I attended a travel writing program with UGA in May 2024, where I journeyed across the Eastern Coast and interviewed Gullah Geechee members and aquaculture specialists. I was able to learn how these communities worked with the land, and write about some of the struggles people face on these coastlines. This course pushed me out of my comfort zone everyday, and I want to continue learning about communities all around the world and amplifying unheard voices in every way I can. 

You can explore some of my written work here.