Congressman Eric Sorenson pays Monmouth a visit

Karli Strom - Editor in Chief

On November 4, Congressman Eric Sorenson made a quick pit stop at Monmouth College to discuss his path from journalist to politician with students in Chris Goble’s “Introduction to Journalism” course.

From the time Sorenson could watch television, he knew he wanted to become a meteorologist. He was a communication studies and meteorology double major at Northern Illinois University, where he studied under Goble.

“I knew from the get-go that Eric would go places, but I thought that would be on camera in front of a weather map,” said Goble. “It never occurred to me he would go to Congress.”

Sorenson had always wanted to be the voice for others in the ways that they needed it, whether that be weather alert updates or fighting for their rights in Congress.

“I really just work for the people that need that information,” said Sorenson.

After spending over a decade as a journalist and meteorologist, listening to the issues that were facing his local communities, Sorenson felt it was time to switch up his career path.

“That caused me to hear a call to serve in another way, and to participate in democracy,” said Sorenson.

He explained being a journalist first helped him in his path to becoming a politician and guided him to take different approaches than those that are career politicians.

“Journalists have such an important role,” said Sorenson. “I was using what I had already earned and that was that people could trust me.”

Sorenson urged those passionate about journalism to continue down that path, with hopes for all of them to see a bright future for themselves.