By Cate Carrejo 

As part of President Obama’s new educational initiatives, the White House staff organized the inaugural White House College Reporter Day, which allowed 50 students from universities across the country to come to the White House and have interviews with senior staff, meet members of the White House Press Corps and have a briefing with Press Secretary Josh Earnest. I was one of the lucky few who were able to attend and gain exclusive access to the seat of the American government.

The other student reporters and I spent the morning in the Indian Treaty Room, one of the oldest and most historic rooms on the White House campus. We spoke with several members of the senior staff about some of the most pressing issues facing college students and the next generation, such as sexual assault on college campuses, college affordability and civic engagement. I could feel my Jesuit education kicking in, finding connections between all the issues we discussed, how each problem informs and complicates the others; making college affordable creates more diversity, which breeds compassion and solidarity, which makes it easier for communities to organize against issues like sexual assault. While many of these problems need to be combated at the federal level, the staff members stressed over and over that they are not in this fight alone, and that we as a country must work together to find solutions.
After our informational panels, I met with Press Assistant and Fordham alum Desiree Barnes, who gave me a quick tour of the West Wing and took me right past the Oval Office. The day ended in the Brady Press Briefing Room, where we were able to ask Earnest questions.

However, the moment was slightly eclipsed when a surprise guest, President Obama, came in from the West Wing and stole the podium from Earnest. He spent over half an hour with us, taking our questions, speaking about his family and even granting an interview request from Rutgers University newspaper The Daily Targum editor-in-chief Dan Corey. The level of candidness and respect as professionals was humbling and affirming, both as a citizen and an aspiring journalist.

After we finished for the day, my new friends and I stumbled back out into “the real world,” blown away by the day we had all just experienced. I suspect that most of us will spend the rest of our professional careers trying to work our way back through those gates.
Surprisingly, and one of the main reasons I believe people should be allowed inside more often, the White House is an office not too unlike any other.

The Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which sits adjacent to the White House and houses much of the executive staff, is massive — five floors of offices and conference rooms, elaborately decorated in the style of a decadent era that is at odds with the modern, relaxed but dedicated mood within the staff. Staff members spoke frankly and openly about the President’s agenda and their positions in the administration, giving honest and transparent answers to students’ questions and even taking advice from students at times. Ideally, everyone should have access to the inner workings of the White House administration, if only to see that it is comprised of a lot of very normal people trying solemnly to do important work.

As critical as this country can be of its government, and often rightly so, I cannot imagine how anyone could be in that building and have any cynicism in their heart. Here is a giant building, a giant staff, a giant organization, that is entirely dedicated to working for you. The people in there are not perfect, but they are trying to find constructive solutions to our country’s biggest problems, and they are doing it all for you. The best part: you can help at any level, locally, regionally, or one day, as a part of the White House staff yourself.

I like to imagine my day at the White House was very similar to what goes on there every day —respectful discussions between intelligent, diverse individuals, intense dedication to detail-oriented work and small victories towards huge goals. Being in that setting, both with those who work there currently and a group of talented young people who might work there someday, restored my faith in our government more than I think anything else could have.