Senior Madeline Peltzer grew up attending Hillsdale College events with her family in Arizona, and she began to consider attending the far-off college when she reached high school.
Even though Peltzer did not decide on where she was attending college until May of her senior year, she knew that Hillsdale College would be a good fit based on her interest in politics and hopes of ending up in Washington, D.C.
Before entering as a student, Peltzer assumed that Hillsdale could be “a boot camp for future presidents.” She anticipated sitting around the dining hall tables discussing all things politics 24/7. But when she arrived in Michigan, she encountered something very different.
“In hindsight I’m really glad that we don’t,” Peltzer said. “That would have been exhausting, and it would have been a very narrow view of life.”
Peltzer said that one of her favorite aspects of Hillsdale is the ability for students to talk about a wide variety of disciplines with genuine interest. She loves that students from all majors love the country and care about current events.
“You go to a lecture on religious liberty and you find a bunch of science majors and economics majors there because they care, and they think it’s interesting,” Peltzer said. “I think that speaks to the richness of a Hillsdale education and the liberal arts. People see connections, and they see a need to be involved.”
While Peltzer knew she wanted to study politics during her time at Hillsdale, she never anticipated participating in the journalism program. She became involved with the Collegian her sophomore year as a reporter and currently serves as the News editor for the paper.
“I love that journalism gives you a platform to share other people’s stories,” Peltzer said. “We have a bit of a megaphone in some ways, not just for the Collegian but for places that I freelance for as well.”
As News editor, Peltzer said she’s learned to manage numerous tasks at once in addition to being a full-time student.
“It’s been a crash course in people management, time management, making sure that sources are getting back to people, putting out fires, fielding questions, handling people who are not pleased with how their story turned out, learning graphic design, writing my own stories on top of it,” she said. “There’s so many plates to spin.”
During her time at Hillsdale, Peltzer said she loved the opportunity to go on the Washington-Hillsdale Internship Program in the spring of her junior year. While there, Peltzer interned for the Office of Policy Coordination in the White House.
Although her time in Washington, D.C. was cut short due to COVID-19, Peltzer said she hopes to return to D.C. after graduating in the spring of 2021. She added that journalism has opened up doors for her that she never knew existed and could see herself working in several different fields.
With the skills she’s developed at the Collegian, Peltzer said she’s interested in pursuing a career in journalism, advocacy, speech writing, policy analysis, or communications.
“I think a lot of it will hinge on Nov. 3,” Peltzer said. “I’d love to go back to the administration, but I don’t know if that’ll be an option or not.”
Regardless of where she ends up, Peltzer said she’s confident that Hillsdale College has prepared her to succeed for whatever comes next.
“Hillsdale is hard, because there’s so much that we do here, and the people that it attracts are so ambitious,” Peltzer said. “I’m very excited, and I feel prepared in a way that I wouldn’t necessarily have had it not been for Hillsdale.”