Jordyn Hermani, a political reporter for Bridge Michigan and president of the Student Media Board, said on behalf of the board that Neal's leadership skills and journalism passion are what made her a natural fit for this role.

"As a board, we were given the difficult decision of choosing between two deeply talented students this year for the role, and Sydney’s vision for how to enhance and expand storytelling at CM Life impressed us," she wrote. "We’re excited to see where she’ll take the paper during her tenure — fire up!"

Neal began her CM Life career as a sports reporter in January of 2023, later serving as an assistant sports editor and currently as sports editor.

She is graduating this May with a Bachelor of Applied Arts in Journalism, with minors in Sports Management and Marketing. Neal is a Lem Tucker scholar.

Starting this fall, she is pursuing a Master of Arts in Communication at Central Michigan University. She is expected to graduate in spring 2028, but said she aims to do so in under two years.

Neal has always been active on campus. She was the production team for the organization of Black Unity Fashion Show, Impact mentor, member of Black Girls Rock and president of the Society of Professional Journalists.

Neal describes herself as an overachiever and multitasker.

“I'm just a person that really thrives with having a lot on their plate and being busy,” she said. “I am a very big mental health person, and I struggled a lot with my mental health at the very beginning of college, especially sophomore year.

“Genuinely, I don't even know how I'm sitting in the position to even graduate on time, just knowing what I went through sophomore year. And so it was just really a thing where I coped really well with being so busy.”

She also wants the readers to know that she’s an outgoing person.

“I love to talk to people,” Neal said. “I can talk to anybody for hours. And so it was just another way for me to be able to connect with other people outside of my comfort zone.”

For CM Life next year, Neal has three main goals. First is recruitment and letting students know CM Life’s door is open to everyone, and you don’t have to be a journalism major.

“Everybody has a voice, … and there's so many different ways you can use your voice,” Neal said. “Even if writing is not your passion, there are other ways to be able to story tell or to get information out there.”

Another important emphasis for her is community and alumni engagement. She loves connecting with the community and gets story ideas from CM Life readers.

Last but not least is social media engagement. Neal said she wants to work on rebuilding CM Life’s social media presence to meet the audience where they are.

As Neal prepares to embrace her new role, she said she is grateful to CM Life and the readers.

“Thank you, the board, and honestly, just everybody at CM Life, … everybody on campus,” she said. “Just seeing people read our newspaper, … it really does mean so much to me.”