At the beginning of her academic career at the University of Iowa, Grace Lathrop wasn’t sure if she was in the right major. But over the past three years, she has grown into a highly accomplished student within the School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Lathrop, a senior from Fairfax, Virginia, studies journalism and mass communication with a minor in communications and a certificate in event management. Although her legacy spans several fields, from her time as an undergraduate teaching assistant to her membership in the Chi Omega Sorority, reporting and producing with The Daily Iowan TV has been the most impactful on her.

Coming into her freshman year, Lathrop wandered into the Adler Journalism Building looking for confirmation that she was in the right major. She then found Jake Mayer, the Student Success and Engagement Coordinator for SJMC, who encouraged her to get involved in DITV.

“I was explaining my problem, and I told him what I wanted to do, and he was like, ‘No, you’re definitely in the right major,’” Lathrop said. “And he walked me down to the [DITV] studio. The rest is history.”

Now, she’s been working as the Arts and Culture Director with DITV since April 2025. Before that, she was a news reporter and anchor. Lathrop also created the arts and culture segment of DITV called “The Vibe” in 2025, which she still produces today.

Lathrop believes her time with DITV will prepare her to find a job someday in her dream career: live entertainment and late-night television. She got a taste of what that career may look like when DITV helped her score a one-on-one interview with Penn Badgley, a well-known actor from Gossip Girl and You, when he visited campus in March 2026.

“I love Gossip Girl, so it was very fulfilling,” Lathrop said. “As cool as it was, I remember that night coming back from that event, and everyone was just dying in the studio. Seeing everyone so excited that we got to do this opportunity and be a part of it was just really, really something special.”

This past summer, Lathrop used her experiences with DITV to land an internship with CBS Sunday Morning.

 She spent the summer assisting the program's producers and helping with shoots around New York City.

Despite the name of the segment, Lathrop did not work on Sundays. Instead, she worked from Tuesday to Saturday to help produce each week's prerecorded show.

Lathrop says the most challenging part about working with CBS was that the stakes were much higher than they are at DITV.

“Things that might not matter as much here or at a smaller scale very much so matter there,” she said. “You’re dealing with a lot of people’s time and schedule...There’s more cooks in the kitchen.”

Regardless, Lathrop says she enjoyed her time with CBS because of how welcoming the team was. She called living and working in New York City “the dream” for many people in her career path.

Working with CBS Sunday Morning was not her first internship; over the summer of 2025, she participated in an internship abroad in Rome, Italy. There, she interned for Vatican News, a news organization that reports on the Pope and the Holy See.

Lathrop says she chose to go to Rome because her family is Italian. She wanted to get in touch with her Italian heritage while living in a city she was already familiar with from previous travels.

Additionally, she chose to do an internship abroad because she wanted a valuable experience on her resume. Her internship with Vatican News was her first internship.

One of Lathrop’s favorite memories from working with Vatican News was when the season five premiere of

The Chosen, a popular TV series about the life of Jesus, took place in Rome. Vatican News asked Lathrop to interview the lead actor, Jonathan Roumie, just a few hours before he would arrive.

Lathrop knew little about the stakes of the interview beforehand.

“I went in completely blind, and I had no idea they were going to record it,” she said. “They posted it on their YouTube page, and I think it has, like, 50,000 views. That was very surreal because...if they told me that before, I probably would have freaked out.”

Lathrop says her internship abroad was the most fulfilling of her time at the university so far. She enjoyed gaining professional experience at her internship while also making lasting friendships with other students on the program.

Overall, Lathrop says she “owes Iowa everything” for the opportunities and experiences she has had throughout college so far. She is especially thankful for Jake Mayer and his support since the first day she stepped into the Adler Journalism Building.

“I think Jake is one of the best things that could happen to the school because of his genuine enthusiasm and welcoming personality,” she said. “He’s done such a great job.”

She is also grateful for her time at DITV, which has given her professional experience to highlight on her resume.  

After graduating from the university next spring, Lathrop hopes to pursue a job in entertainment, public relations, or publicity. She is interested in finding work in Los Angeles and comparing it to her experiences in New York City.