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MC students make connections, gain valuable insight during Washington, D.C. trip

MC Communication students, from left, JC Fox, Jessica Norman, Evelyn Parsley and Ella MacGregor, tour the nation's capital during the March trip.

èßäÉçÇø communication students were exposed to communications and media relations careers from MC alums working in the nation’s capital during a March trip to Washington, D.C.

Reid Vance, professor and chair of the Department of Communication at MC, said the trip establishes potential public service internship and employment opportunities in the D.C. area.

“Many MC graduates feel compelled to go into public service,” Vance said. “They see it as a way to serve other people. When they leave MC, we want them to share their culture with all mankind. They see communications as an area where they can really make a difference.

“It’s hard work, it’s long hours and they don’t get paid a lot, especially when they start out. But the connections they make with these alumni can be valuable as they seek to move into other positions.”

Vance said the students met with the head of global public relations at a major security firm, a public affairs officer at the Pentagon and an assistant to a U.S. Congressman from New York. They toured the Pentagon and Capitol Hill, observed the Senate in session and visited the Library of Congress, among other activities.

The students visited with Lisa Shoemaker, vice president of Global Corporate Relations at IDEMIA, Javan Rasnake, U.S. Department of War spokesperson and press officer, and Susan Sweat, Cornerstone principal and director, as well as U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith and her communications staff, and others.

For MC communication students like Evelyn Parsley and Ella MacGregor, the junket to D.C. was as informative as it was exciting.

“I was interested in hearing about potential options for communication roles and meeting with MC Communication Department alumni who live and work in and around the city,” said Parsley, a sophomore journalism major from Plano, Texas. “We discussed their responsibilities and the benefits and challenges of D.C. life. Getting a first-hand look at real-world applications for the communication concepts that we study in class is an incredibly rewarding experience.”

MacGregor, a junior communication major from Brandon, said the inside look at communication life in D.C. was “eye-opening.”

“I appreciated getting a taste of what it would be like to work in multiple settings and how to utilize communication in various jobs,” she said. “Communication students need to broaden their horizons and see what the world has to offer. Networking with those in your field is vital to a successful career. It’s important to have people in your corner supporting you professionally and personally.”

Parsley and MacGregor are part of the Communication Pathways program at MC, which invites students to explore internship and vocational opportunities by meeting with graduates in the field. Gifts to the Communication Annual Fund helped make the Washington, D.C. trip possible by helping offset costs associated with travel.

Vance said the fact that so many MC graduates live and work in the nation’s capital is a testament to the University.

“We prepare our students well to have success in their chosen fields,” he said. “Students who go into graduate school find it not as difficult as they thought because of what they experienced as an undergraduate at MC. Supervisors of students who go into practice say they were very well prepared in terms of their initiative and their work ethic to do their job well.

“We have many students who lack exposure to different opportunities, and it’s our responsibility as professors to broaden their horizons. Trips like this are a good way to do it.”

For more information about or to support the Communication Pathways program at MC, email vance@mc.edu.