From Connect-123 intern to White House Correspondent. William McDonald participated in a Connect-123 human rights internship in Cape Town seven years ago. He recently took time out of his very busy schedule reporting the political news from Washington DC to chat with us about where his career has taken him.

I truly love Cape Town and all of South Africa. I first visited the wonderful country of South Africa in 2004 as an exchange student at the University of Stellenbosch and again in 2007 to conduct my research for my masters thesis on the healthcare seeking complexities regarding HIV/AIDS treatments in Zwelethemba outside of Worcester. I deeply wanted to return in 2008 and Connect-123 seemed like, and proved true, to be the most friendly and uncomplicated internship program to work with. I was also very impressed with the costs and connections.

I very much enjoyed my internship with Connect-123. I was working for a small group of human rights lawyers in Stellenbosch investigating human rights abuses taking place on wine farms in the Western Cape.

I am currently a White House Correspondent and cover Capitol Hill and the Pentagon. I work for a radio broadcast company which provides news content to over 400 radio stations worldwide. I often travel with President Obama and even have my own seat in the White House briefing room, which makes me very happy! I have met President Obama a number of times and have had the great honor of being called on by him during press briefings. It has been truly amazing working in the White House and being around the President of the United States while he works and travels.

Some very exciting stories have more to do with my experiences with President Obama. I was one of 5 journalists selected to be in the room when he announced upping battle plans against ISIS in Iraq and Syria, the Cuban curbing of relations and have been in the Oval office a number of times with other world leaders. Otherwise my stories are more breaking news stuff, not so much investigative.

My internship with Connect-123 gave me the confidence needed to carry out many of the duties I am responsible for day to day. It is a very intense job and the internship Connect offered me forced me to face my fears and ask the tough questions needed when investigating human rights abuses. I would absolutely say that the hard work from the team at Connect has led me to be the confident and ambitious person I am today. Without the opportunity with Connect-123 I am unsure where I would be today.

Work hard and do things that scare you! Stay moral and ethical and never stop asking questions!