Hi Tigers!
We started off our day with breakfast at Catholic University, the dorm where we are staying. We then headed over to the New York Times and met with Thom Shanker, the assistant Washington editor for the New York Times. He answered our questions, described the inner workings at in his department and advised us on potential internships with the New York Times. He was generous with his time, and made sure that we had answers to every question we asked.
We had some extra time, so we walked over to the White House and then to the Washington Monument. Jamie Bechta, a rising senior, had never been to Washington, D.C., and was thrilled to see the White House.
“The White House was amazing to see in person!” said Bechta.
I was really excited about visiting the NPR headquarters. My parents and I love NPR, and I grew up listening to it almost every day.
The NPR building was incredible! After going through security, we were given a tour of the building, and got to meet with Scott Simon, Peter Breslow, Lulu Garcia-Navarro, and Dana Cronin, a Colorado College alumni. Everyone was super friendly, and gave us great advice, both for journalism and for life. Dana talked to us about how to pitch ideas, and how it’s not as scary as we might think.
Lulu Garcia-Navarro was very articulate, and I really enjoyed listening to her. She talked to us about how important it is to talk to real people, not just the people that you would expect to hear from. She told us how journalism can sometimes be hard, because you might be talking to someone in their worst moment.
Peter Breslow sat down with us and went over our final projects. Corey, our professor, had put us into three groups, and we presented our projects to Peter. The assignment was to nationalize a local issue, and pitch the idea to Peter. The three pitches were about the bike lane controversy, a rumored-Manitou Springs cult, and the high rape rate in Colorado Springs. Peter offered us great advice, and encouraged us to reach out to new sources.
We had an alumni dinner at 801 Restaurant, where we got to meet former Colorado College students. I really enjoyed talking to Michael Meyer, a freelancing journalist. He talked to us about his work with podcasts, and how he valued his liberal arts education from Colorado College. I also got the chance to get to know Peter more. He’s taught at Colorado College before, and I hope to get the opportunity to take one of his classes in the future.
It was a great day, and I’m looking forward to tomorrow!
