While many students visit the District of Columbia for middle-school field trips, few ever receive personal invitations to return and come to the White House to meet with various government officials. Meghan McBrady, a Grand Valley State University journalism senior, was one of those few students.

McBrady flew to the District Wednesday, Oct. 26 to participate in briefings with White House staff about college affordability and financial aid, climate change and media in honor of College Radio Day Friday, Nov. 4. She accompanied Len O’Kelly, a GVSU multimedia journalism professor and a founding board member of College Radio Day, who was invited to attend the briefings with a student of his choosing.

“One of the reasons why (O’Kelly) chose me was not only because I’m (Whale Radio’s) news director, (but) I also have this journalistic background,” McBrady said. “I know how to act calm in a situation. I know how to conduct myself when doing interviews.”

McBrady and 11 other student representatives from universities across the country met with John B. King Jr., the secretary of education in the U.S. Department of Education, to discuss financial aid and college affordability. O’Kelly described the briefing format as “more of a peer setting.”

“(I was) trying to ask questions that nobody else would think of because we had statements and press releases before that were provided for us that (highlighted) what they were going to be focusing on,” McBrady said. “(O’Kelly) and I talked previously, and he agreed with me (that) I wanted to ask questions that were beyond that.

And that is exactly what her questions were. After asking one tough question, she was then pulled aside for more information.

“One of the questions they really didn’t know how to answer (was), ‘What kind of initiatives are you doing with FAFSA and students who want to study abroad and take their education to a global level?'” she said. “(I) got pulled aside by an official later that day (saying) that the secretary of education (wanted my) email and contact information because he (wanted) to give me more information. I was the only person who got that experience.”

McBrady also attended a briefing with Brian Deese, a senior adviser to President Barack Obama about climate change.

“We come from a place that has 100 inches of snow per year, and we have students who say, ‘What’s global warming?’” McBrady said. “(We asked) what kind of information, then, can you offer (when) we are in an environment where we don’t understand the overall significance or the overall effects of global warming?”

McBrady said the briefing topics were all considered in light of college media and how students can disseminate information effectively to their fellow students.

“With everybody we talked to, there was this focus on media,” McBrady said. “While it seemed kind of random to talk about climate change in conjuncture to FAFSA and student aid and then (meeting) with the press secretary, it was significant because we’re looking at things that are affecting our future, things that we continue to face every day (and) which future students will face every day because the world does keep changing.”

O’Kelly stressed the significance of the briefings for the media students there, saying it was a “once-in-a-lifetime” experience.

“It’s not often you get the invite to go to the White House. We were very honored that we were chosen to be a part of that,” O’Kelly said. “The value for a student, I think, is tremendous. (A) lot of (the students there) may have been on the fence about what they wanted to do with their careers, (but) now had a much clearer idea. (When) you’ve got people at reasonably high levels of government telling you what you do matters, that helps a student make a decision.”

For McBrady, the experience won’t be one she’ll forget anytime soon.

“(The trip) was really worthwhile,” she said. “This was probably the most serious interview I’ve ever conducted in my life, which can hopefully lead to more change and more possibilities for me in the future.”