Those who know our program best are our alumni. Here's what a few of them have to say about The Politics & Journalism Semester.

"Who knew? I certainly didn't when I applied to be among the students in WCPJ's inaugural class in 1989. I didn't know that it would be a life changing moment. I didn't know it would set in motion a journalistic career that has taken me around the globe, including eight years in Europe."
--Glenn Hall, Fall 1989 (Ohio State Univ., interned at The Wall Street Journal)
  Business Editor, The Orange CountyRegister

"What I remember most about my semester was the extraordinary influence money plays in politics through finance records, the fight over free and paid media and that behind each and every cause -- even those of the nation's most needy -- there must be big dollars or the chances of being heard are slim. It's a lesson that I have used in my coverage of tiny elections and governments to the major national issues of the day. Washington Post political reporter Dan Balz, who has watched the system for decades, was one of my lunch-time mentors. My best semester of college!"
--Robert E. Pierre, Fall 1989 (Louisiana State Univ., interned at Cox Newspapers)
  Correspondent, The Washington Post, and former president,
  Washington Assn. of Black Journalists

"I owe my first job in Washington to WCPJ, and you could say my husband as well, since I was introduced to both through my internship at UPI. Thanks Terry!"
--Juliana Gruenwald Henderson, Winter/Spring 1993 (Univ. of Minnesota, interned at U.P.I.)
  Freelance writer and contributor, Technology Daily

"The program was a phenomenal introduction to reporting on politics. With Terry's contacts, the speaker series is a virtual "Who's Who" of the nation's capital. I still vividly remember all of us asking then-White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry how he remained so cool under the pressure of the press corps during his news briefings. He then, with great fanfare, reenacted how he would leave the briefing room and collapse on his desk behind the confines of his office wall. It was precisely that kind of moment that made the program so invaluable -- for it let you see a side of Washington that very few know."
--Michelle Jaconi, Winter/Spring 1998 (Georgetown Univ., interned at NBC's "Meet the Press")
  Producer, NBC's "Meet the Press"

"George W. Bush walking out of the oval office into the Rose Garden. Cokie Roberts giving a talk in a posh Georgetown restaurant. Hillary Clinton, seen from the press box on Capitol Hill. Wolf Blitzer running through the halls of CNN. Sitting in the same make up chair that Caroline Kennedy was in just two hours before. Watching Terry rock neurotically on his chair while discussing the merits of libertarian politics. Sitting around countless of times with a bunch of really cool, young, fashionably cynical, student journalists at some bar in Georgetown or Adams Morgan or Britt’s living room or Amol’s living room having a drink discussing everything from the West Wing to the merits of American democracy. Four months in Washington DC, in Terry Michael’s program, was more than a blast, it was a reminder of why I love politics and journalism."
--Kris Reyes, Winter/Spring 2002 (Centennial College, interned at CNN)
  Citytv, Toronto

"The Politics & Journalism Semester will shake you to your core -- make you question all your assumptions and beliefs. It will make you ask the questions of yourself that, one day, you will need to ask of others to become a first-rate journalist."
--Patrick Reis, Winter/Spring 2008 (Carleton College, interned at Greenwire)
  Reporter, Greenwire