Whether it was seeing U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders in the tunnels beneath the United States Capitol, touring the White House, or meeting with numerous College of Communication and Information alumni, students described a recent trip they took to Washington as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Aimed at introducing students to the careers they could pursue after graduating, the annual trip has been a mainstay for the School of Communication Studies and School of Journalism and Media for several years now. While the two schools had differing itineraries to fit the interests of their respective students—with the journalism and media cohort exploring various media outlets and communication studies students visiting a wide variety of organizations—all the students had the opportunity to network with professionals working in their future career fields.
“I didn’t realize until this week how real the Vol network is. If there was another trip, I would definitely look into going, it was very worthwhile,” said AlexaLin Moses, a junior in the journalism and media program.
Moses said the trip and the visits with CCI alumni exposed her to the breadth of opportunities one can have when they graduate with her major. She was grateful for the chance to talk with so many people and learn about what they are doing in the field and will be taking advantage of the new connections she made while on the trip. She said the visit to CBS headquarters was her favorite stop of the whole trip.
“For me, I felt like the trip was a little bit different because everyone else is in the journalism track where I’m more on the media track. I like production, I want to go into social media, advertising, that kind of thing. Most of it was news-related but I got to ask more of the behind-the-scenes questions,” she said, noting that almost all the media professionals they visited addressed the on-going transition from engaging with audiences through more traditional news platforms to the internet and social media.
While the visit to CBS was the most illuminating for her career-wise, being taken on an impromptu tour of the Capitol Hill Tunnels by CCI alumnus Patrick Davis, deputy bureau chief at The Epoch Media Group, was definitely a unique highlight. Other stops the School of Journalism and Media students made included the Library of Congress and a special CCI alumni reception—that’s where she and other students gathered up a lot of new LinkedIn connections and business cards.
The networking opportunities certainly appealed to communication studies senior Cole Bundren, who is weighing his career options as graduation is around the corner. He picked communication studies as his major because he knew it provided skills that would be applicable in a broad array of professions, and this Washington trip affirmed that decision.
“I met a lot of people and some of my biggest takeaways were that there are a wide range of jobs that communication graduates hold positions for in Washington, DC, and the employee workforce is actually fairly young. I guess the baby boomers are retiring and the younger generation is stepping in and filling these roles, which is perfect for up-and-coming young college students and people who just graduated,” he said.
While Bundren’s original career path was to graduate and go to law school, he has since pivoted on becoming a lawyer. He’s lived in Knoxville and Tazewell, Tennessee, for his entire life and has been debating if he wanted to live in a larger city. Visiting Washington allowed him to envision some possibilities of living and working there, especially as his interests have been leaning more and more towards government and politics.
“I’ve always wanted to help people and government and politics seemed the way to do that. I thought going to law school and becoming an attorney would do that, but then I figured I don’t have to go to law school to work in government or politics,” he said. “DC seemed like a great city, and there’s a lot of connections and people high up in government there from UT.”
Even though he’s ready to jump into a role adjacent to politics, both Bundren and his fellow communication studies major Addison Lafayette said they hadn’t realized how many private sector companies are headquartered in the nation’s capital. Going in, they said they thought everything in Washington was centered around politics, but visits to Toyota headquarters and to the US Chamber of Commerce introduced them to the diversity of careers they could have in the city.
“It’s definitely a place I could see myself living after college and I wasn’t expecting that,” Lafayette said.
She spent a long time talking to CCI alum MacKenzie Morales, senior manager of campaigns and strategies for the US Chamber of Commerce, about the analytical side of social media. Morales told the students that she went on the inaugural School of Communication Studies trip to Washington. This was the first time the alumna hosted students from the trip, and she told them she was thrilled to do so and to be a connection for them.
“She gave me some great resources for finding internships and she connected with me on LinkedIn and told me to message her if I have questions or need advice. To see somebody doing what I want to do and be so open to helping me was just really welcoming, it was so nice of her. All these people are so busy and they’re so happy and willing to take time out of their day for us,” she said.
Besides being an impactful and potentially life-changing experience, they also just had a lot of fun, Lafayette said. She went on the trip not knowing anyone else but, by the end of it, formed several new friendships as the group traveled around the city together. She and Bundren said visiting and touring the White House was their favorite outing by far and both were in awe of the building’s history and iconic status.
All three students said they would emphatically encourage others to go on the trip if they get the chance. Bundren had advice for those who do decide to go on future Washington trips: “Take your resume and business card, do your research on the people you’re going to meet with and the companies they work for, be prepared to take notes, ask engaging questions, and always dress to impress, especially in the nation’s capital.”
