Getting hands-on experience can launch a student’s career. That’s why TCU encourages journalism students to spend a semester in Washington D.C.

The Washington Internship program allows juniors and seniors to take classes and work in the nation’s capital. 

TCU partners with the Washington Center, a nonprofit that works with colleges and universities in the U.S. and more than 24 countries to help students study and secure internships in D.C. 

“The Washington Center is definitely more career readiness focussed and very specific to the majors that are doing the program,” said Madison Pastrick, TCU Global Program Manager..

The inspiration for the program came from retired School of Journalism director John Lumpkin.

“He kind of took it upon himself since he wasn’t teaching,” said Dr. John Tisdale, an associate professor of journalism at TCU. “I was kind of his assistant. 

“He started visiting with the interns, going up there two, three, four times a semester. I think we had at one time like 10.”

Throughout the program’s history, students said it has successfully prepared them for the journalism field; some even went on to become producers at CBS’ Face The Nation.

“It was probably the most eye opening experience I did in college because, yes, you’re still in school… but you get dropped into a career, and you get to literally live that career,” said Richard Escobedo, class of 2016 and a producer at Face The Nation.

A May graduate credits the program with helping her land her first job. 

“From my experience being a college associate I basically do the same thing that I do now so it was really great to just come back and have the same co-workers and have the same boss,” said Amelia Crowley, who started as a FOX Guest Greeter after her graduation in May. 

The lessons from Washington also translate to the classroom.

Senior Ella Mercer said that she learned new vocabulary from her experience in the Washington Program, which helped her in Assistant Professor Patty Zamarripa’s journalism class, News Production.

“The vocabulary was similar enough to translate into Patty’s course, so I felt very ahead of the game when I was working on News Now,” said Mercer, who went to D.C. in the fall of 2023. 

Faculty members said they can see a new level of maturity when students return. 

“The internship helps students become much more confident and independent, usually when they come back they’ve grown up in many ways, they’ve matured,” said Jean Marie Brown, the director of student media. “They’ve been out on their own living in a major city working getting around and solving the problems they would have asked their parents to solve.”