The University of Oklahoma • Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Comunication
DREAM INTERNSHIP: Gaylord College senior Megan Davis (left) and her Washington roommate, Baylor student Brittney Bain, pose for a photo with President George W. Bush on the White House lawn. Davis served as a White House intern in spring 2006. Photo providedPresidential possibilities
White House intern returns to OU poised to continue on her path to excellence
Journalism junior Megan Davis speaks in the confident tones of a woman who has known where she belongs since she was 10: inthe White House. More than a decade removed from those days as a fourth grader, the 21-year-old has turned her daydreams into a reality.
“When you have a goal or a dream for that long that you’ve worked toward and it finally happens to you, it’s really humbling,” Davis says.
Davis spent her days in spring 2006 down the hall from President George W. Bush, interning at both the correspondence and communication offices of the White House. She received correspondence addressed to the president and helped handle the president’s media events. Davis was one of only 100 student nationwide chosen to participate in a highly competitive and selective program.
In addition to her everyday intern duties, she attended weekly lectures, volunteered at special events, participated in tours and contributed to a community service project in the Washington, D.C., area.
When the Lawton native returns to OU in fall 2006 to complete the final year in her journalism studies, she will face a profusion of possibilities that could take her in one of many directions.
“All of my decisions or thoughts — though they may seem completely disconnected from a career in journalism — are, in my mind, connected,” she says.
Ever willing to provide a punch line at her own expense, Davis jokes that if all else fails, she may join the circus. She then lets out one of her giddy giggles, a sound that her friends say is frequent. Uncertain what path her career will take, Davis is certain in the belief that money will play virtually no factor in the decision.
“If you’re a good journalist and you get to a certain level, there are so many opportunities to do good things,” she says. “If I make it to that level of success, I can use whatever money I make or reputation I have to help other people who are less fortunate.”
After graduating as the valedictorian of Lawton’s MacArthur High School class of 2002, which named her Most Likely to Succeed, Davis came to the Gaylord College on a McMahon Scholarship and as part of the President’s Leadership Class. She has worked to develop her leadership skills through diverse activities across the campus and has met with many university, state and national leaders.
Since settling in to campus life, she has volunteered at the Women’s Resource and Outreach Centers, written for The Oklahoma Daily and studied media systems in London and Paris with Gaylord Dean Joe Foote.
“She’s very poised and very impressive,” Foote says. “She’s shown a lot of initiative and is typical of a student who is going to be successful in this field because she creates her own opportunities. Her career will bloom in a big way when she leaves OU.”
In addition to serving on various committees for Delta Gamma sorority, Davis has volunteered with Big Brothers Big Sisters. As a Gaylord Ambassador, one of 15 in the college’s inaugural class, Davis has served as a liaison between the college and alumni, assisted during special functions, given tours of Gaylord Hall and hosted visiting dignitaries.
“She is always seeking new opportunities and ways to get involved and make an impact,” says Hannah Brenner, a program specialist at OU’s Carl Albert Center who taught Davis in two women’s studies courses. Davis volunteered at the center, which promotes scholarship related to the history, structure, processes, personnel and policies of the U.S. Congress, for a program called National Education for Women’s Leadership. “I get the impression she sleeps very little, but it is fantastic to observe someone who truly makes the most out of the college experience.”
Underlying all of Davis’ involvements and accomplishments is her overwhelming desire to improve the lives of others, she says. If she doesn’t attend law school, Davis may travel the globe working for humanitarian causes. After that, she says she could wind up at a television network or in politics.
“Whatever Megan chooses to do, it is my belief that she will be head and shoulders above her peers because of her self-discipline, constant quest for knowledge and a deep love for others,” says Rhonda Johnston, Davis’s high school English teacher. “With these attributes, she will not allow herself to accept failure in any aspect of her life.”
Through a combination of natural ability and a strong work ethic, Davis has excelled as a student, earning an A in all but one class she has ever taken: a freshman math course at OU, says her mother, Barbara Davis.
“She always worked hard in school and was usually the teacher’s pet,” Barbara Davis says. “Through junior high and high school she just worked herself to death. She just couldn’t accept anything less than an A.”
That hard work paid off in more than grades: It got her a gig with the president of the United States for which she worked since she was 10.
