Medill cherubs spent five weeks of the summer living among fellow journalists — both students and instructors. But during select weeks in the program, students also were just a few doors away from guest speakers, creating a comfortable environment for the cherubs to get to know their guests.
Christine Liu, of California appreciated the proximity.
“Compared to them staying in a hotel or another place, it just made me feel like they’re really in it for the week,” Liu said. “They’re not just paid to come and talk to us a few times but they’re really in it. And it was nice to know that.”
Two of the guests, former Newsweek editor Bret Begun and People editor Cynthia Wang, were on campus during the fourth week.
“One of the things that happens is that no matter how great their instructors are, [cherubs] can benefit from hearing from a new voice, which is nice because Cynthia and I come in and we’re sort of the new kids on the block,” Begun said.
Begun and Wang, like guest speakers Krishnan Anantharaman of the Wall Street Journal and Tom Giratikanon of the Boston Globe, lived in the dorms with the cherubs for a full week. Begun has been part of the cherub program both as a full-time instructor and guest speaker for 10 years.
“There are some years where we are able to have a cherub-free zone [on the upper floor of the dorms] like this year, and there are other years where we actually live with the cherubs,” Begun said. “Living in the cherub-free zone is a little more quiet and more private, but living with the cherubs, I definitely get to chat with a lot of cherubs.”
Meals were also chances to interact with guest instructors. In Begun’s case, he sat with the cherubs at breakfast though he normally sat with other instructors for lunch and dinner.
“The first time [I ate with Begun] I had never even met him,” said Saj Sri-Kumar, of California. “It was the only table I saw with people I knew, so I sat next to him. He knew who I was because he had my sister in his group and he recognized my last name, so he introduced himself.”
Outside of meals at the university cafeteria at 1835 Hinman, Wang was able to spend time with cherubs when Community Associate Kit Fox bought dinner for cherubs after losing a friendly bet over whether he could remember their names.
“Cynthia happened to be in the CRC lobby, so we invited her to join us,” Liu said. “It was cool because it was her first day. We learned a little about her private life, which helped us get to know her and see her as someone besides an instructor.”
Begun said that he returns to the program despite scheduling issues because he enjoys sharing knowledge with the cherubs.
“When you’re here for a week, it’s a real challenge to get to know any one individual cherub really well, but I love being part of the discovery process,” Begun said. “Cherubs are at the beginning of a very long process. I like being part of that journey and helping them head off in a successful direction.”
