At The Hechinger Report, we care deeply about what students have to say. That’s why we sent our higher education intern, Joanna Hou, to the Republican and Democratic national conventions: to hear from young voters on higher education policy. 

The ability to support interns, which helps build a pipeline of future journalists, and to send reporters to conventions across the country, requires reader support. 

You are not currently a member of The Hechinger Report. Please don’t let others carry the load for the journalism you benefit from. We can strengthen democracy and our schools, together.

Below, Joanna shares how she decided to focus on young voters, the other projects she worked on this summer and what she plans to do next. It was a privilege to have Joanna on our team and I hope you take a moment to read her stories.

I’m a recent graduate of Northwestern University. With two months left on my lease this summer, I became Hechinger’s temporary Midwest correspondent. Evanston, Illinois, isn’t prime political reporting territory. But its proximity to the Republican National Convention in July and the Democratic National Convention in August gave me an opportunity few interns have: to report on both.

At Hechinger, I’ve had the privilege of working with some of the smartest reporters and editors I’ve met in my career so far. In early brainstorming sessions, my colleagues helped me frame our convention coverage. Higher education policy was not a key tenet of either campaign’s platform. But for young voters, issues on campuses are near and dear. 

I went to both conventions on a mission to find young voters and talk to them about the biggest challenges they saw in higher education. In Milwaukee, that meant days poring over the RNC Master Calendar, trying to get myself on press lists for everything from a Moms for Liberty event to an “I Love New York” party. In Chicago, it meant hours a day on the L heading to young voter events and a barber’s shop-turned-speakeasy. 

Through it all, I was surprised to see how much students from both sides prioritized fostering productive conversations across the aisle. In what’s been dubbed one of the most polarizing time in American history, young people came together on campus issues like administrative overreach, free speech and affordability. I hope their takeaways were as interesting to read as they were for me to listen to. 

Beyond my convention coverage, I’ve been able to help report other stories, including one on the fallout from the affirmative action ruling. I’ve used innovative strategies to find and meet students from across the country, and sharpened my interview techniques. 

I’ve taken endless notes at meetings and learned so much about how to approach education reporting during this summer internship. I’m excited that these lessons won’t be going to waste. Following my internship, I’m heading to Willamette Week, a newspaper and website in Portland, Oregon, to cover education full-time across the state. I’m so grateful to Hechinger for the summer of a lifetime.