Alumni Ivy Villaflores and Nathan O’Neal are both students at Arizona State University and alumni of the 2009 class of IPJ. Both have also recently experienced just how TFAS can help in their professional careers. The two friends reached out to IPJ Director Joe Starrs to tell their “It’s a TFAS World” stories.

O’Neal’s story is a unique one, as not only did he stumble upon another TFAS alumnus, but he had the opportunity to connect with another IPJ alumnus.

“The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University hosted an interview day for broadcast journalism internships this past fall and I signed up to interview with about six different companies.

I had a successful series of interviews throughout the day and was scheduled to do my last interview with 12 News (KPNX), a Phoenix NBC affiliate. I presented my resume to one of the producers, Heather Dunn, and we began talking about my professional goals – one of them being to return to Washington, D.C. to work in broadcast journalism. She asked why I had this interest and I went on to explain how this past summer I had an amazing experience at TFAS.

Heather Dunn (J 94) then revealed that she had also participated in the Institute on Political Journalism. We went on to discuss the classes we took, places we went, Georgetown and everything that made the TFAS experience.

I now know that TFAS has great potential for networking, even out here in the Valley of the Sun. I start the internship with 12 News this January.”

Villaflores also experienced a similar moment when she was in a Starbucks on her college campus this winter.

“I was recently at a Starbucks on campus and a woman came up to me when she saw I was wearing my TFAS shirt. It turns out that she had done IPVS and after striking up a conversation, she asked for my resume and will be contacting me after graduation. I can’t believe how connected TFAS alumni are – especially out here in Arizona!”

Villaflores went on to tell Starrs that she and O’Neal would be passing the word about TFAS on to other students.

”Nathan and I are excited to tell students at the Journalism and Communication schools about IPJ. We’ve met some students from ASU who did other programs in D.C. this summer, and all of them seem to think that we had the better summer. They can’t believe how incredible our schedules were compared to theirs, along with the activities, lectures and environment we were in.

Thanks so much for all of your help and support from this summer and even now – Nathan and I definitely pique people’s interests whenever we talk about IPJ out here!”

Have a similar “It’s a TFAS World” story? Share it with alumni@TFAS.org and win a TFAS T-shirt!