Kim Last '07
Can pillow fights prepare you for a career? Maybe! Kim Last '07, a young journalist who currently handles marketing, advertising, and promotional duties for Forbes' websites Investopedia.com and Real Clear Politics once organized a pillow fight in the campus student center to raise awareness about breast cancer as Service Chair of her sorority, Zeta Tau Alpha. Her sorority service was just one way Kim developed her leadership skills at Washington College, a campus that she believes provides a "great environment to be involved." For example, she quickly rose up the ranks of Washington College's student newspaper, The Elm: "I joined the Elm my freshmen year, became News Editor my sophomore year, and then Editor in Chief my Junior Year."
Kim further honed her journalistic chops through numerous internship opportunities, working one summer with Manhattan Media (a company that publishes four weekly newspapers in the Manhattan area) and serving as a reporting intern at the Scripps Howard Foundation Wire and News Service's DC bureau the next summer. She also worked three days a week for the BBC during the Fall 2006 semester as part of the Hansard Society for Parliamentary Government, a program sponsored by the Department of Political Science and the International Studies Program that brings students to the London School of Economics as part of a study abroad experience. She says, "Although the Hansard Program was demanding, it changed my perspective on things completely, opening my mind to international politics and affairs, and, more importantly, new forms of media (particularly on-line media)."
Kim believes that Political Science is an excellent major for those who want to write professionally. She says, "Many feel that in order to pursue a media career, they need to major in communications, but that simply isn't the case. A Liberal Arts education is key. I was able to use the analytical skills that I learned in my Political Science classes during my internships and now on the job. Not to mention, the Political Science department demands students to be knowledgeable about current affairs, which is an absolute necessity in this business."