NOVEMBER 7, 2025 | FEATURES | By Tessa Frantz
Growing up, my parents consistently had a stack of National Geographic magazines next to our couch. I was at first indifferent to this collection; to me, it was just a bunch of yellow-bordered magazines. But slowly, likely out of boredom, I started flipping through. I would breeze from cover to cover and drink in vast knowledge and vivid photographs. It was the first media I recall feeling truly impacted by.
When I saw a flier in the Spring of 2025 advertising a block in partnership with National Geographic, I signed up purely on a gut feeling. Beyond reading a brief course description, I had no idea what to expect. As it turned out, it was not just an introduction to the organization, but an in-depth exploration of its inner workings.
Colorado College’s Career Catalyst program reflects an effort to improve career readiness and networking among students. The program began last year with a half-block course at Mattel.
Career Catalyst blocks are financed mainly by a $2.5 million donation from the Maclean Family, a family with strong ties to Colorado College.
“Colorado College has been part of our family for over a century now—from my grandmother who graduated in 1925, to me in the 80s and now through my sons, who graduated in 2021 and 2023,” says Liz MacLean Larned ’83.
“With this gift, we’re excited to help today’s students prepare for the future — not just by building skills, but by discovering how their passions can shape meaningful careers. The Career Catalyst program does just that, and we’re honored to help it grow.”
This year, the school will put on four Career Catalyst blocks with various organizations in Washington, D.C., Aspen, Colo., San Francisco, Calif., and Salida, Colo., three of which will occur during the Spring semester.
The first of these blocks occurred during Block Two, titled Evolving How We Narrate Evolution: National Geographic and the Role of Educational Nonprofits. The block involved two weeks spent in Washington, D.C.
At the heart of this block was a partnership with National Geographic. For them, this was a chance to connect with students. For the class, it was the chance to see inside a mysterious, timeless organization.
As is typical of the Block Plan, the first week of class was held entirely on campus. There were relevant readings surrounding narrative, misinformation and the dissemination of knowledge in our current world. From 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., the class would meet to discuss these readings, and of course, to prepare for two weeks in Washington, D.C.
Classes at the nation’s Capitol were a different story. Most days, the class would meet at 8:30 a.m. and would attend meetings, traipse around the city and conduct discussions until about 8:30 p.m.
Typically, we’d go to National Geographic’s headquarters for the morning. During this time, the class would speak with various staff and senior leaders about various topics such as their career paths, what they do now and why they like their jobs. Every morning was pretty much a hailstorm of questions from internship-hungry Colorado College students, dressed to the nines in business formal.
Being at National Geographic’s headquarters for two weeks was filled with moments of nervousness and excitement. We were the subject of confusion for many of the employees who, I’m sure, were asking their colleagues, “Why are 15 random college students posted up in our conference room every day?”
Remy Kalmbach ‘27 said her favorite moment of the trip was seeing the engineering team construct “critter cams,” special photography units designed to mount on animals without hurting them. “Seeing their engineering in person was so cool, just witnessing the trial runs and how intentional all the technology was,” she said.
Every day, there was some new niche aspect of the National Geographic Society to witness. One moment that stood out was having a casual lunch with Bob Ballard, the National Geographic Explorer who discovered the wreck of the Titanic.
Imagine 10 zealous CC students crowded around a legend in oceanography, giving us sage advice over Chipotle. It was surreal, to say the least. Even now, I can recall him telling us to take risks in life and how sorry he was that our generation was inheriting the Earth in such disarray.
After these meetings each morning, the class would rush off to the next planned activity, usually at another nonprofit organization like the Labor Defense Fund or the National Bureau of Labor Statistics. With any remaining time, we’d visit museums and then reconvene for dinner, joined most nights by CC alums.
An aspect of the trip I didn’t expect to appreciate was the independence. Of course, careful planning goes into any Block abroad or in another city. But as students, we divided the tasks so that everyone had equal responsibility.
On any given day, there were students handling lunch and dinner reservations, transportation, thank-you cards and more. While I’m sure this system was to promote efficiency and relieve some work from professors Dan Johnson and Ryan Banagale, I liked to think of it as a travel boot camp. We were learning how to navigate a new city under a tight schedule.
Another unique facet of this Block, specifically, was being in D.C. during the government shutdown. With so many government office visits on the schedule, this was not ideal. However, most offices and Smithsonian museums remained open as long as possible, using saved funds.
The only time I recall being truly affected by the shutdown was a cancellation of an appointment at the National Patent Office. I don’t feel particularly passionate about patents, so this development didn’t personally tear me up. It was, however, interesting to see that most government employees we conversed with were still going into work. Technically, the government was shut down, but the Hill was as alive as ever, people in suits rushing into jobs without a sure paycheck.
In the end, the Block offered an inside look at an organization that had quietly shaped my curiosity growing up. Spending two weeks at National Geographic turned abstract admiration into a concrete understanding of how storytelling, science and logistics come together.