Where USF faculty, students and graduates are invited to talk about journalism and its problems and opportunities. This blog is not affiliated with the University of San Francisco, nor is the university responsible for any of the opinions expressed herein -- though it is certainly responsible for the people who entertain those opinions, having educated them. They make us proud.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

On the Road with James Foster, USF Class of 2003

It's good not only to connect to stories by alums, but it's also good to link to stories about them.

Hence our pleasure in calling attention to the article about James Foster, a Peace Corps volunteer who, in his spare time, is organizing youth rugby in the tiny island nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean, where he is stationed.

According to the story,

"There are huge voids of role models here," Foster said. "Kids are left to fend for themselves a lot of the time. As an outsider, you come here and you see the void. And what I'm trying to do is bring the game to the kids. It's been my experience that rugby can teach valuable life lessons of teamwork, working hard and fair play. I believe there is a greater good."

The story also mentions that James "played rugby throughout college at the University of San Francisco." From there, he traveled with two friends to Daystar University in Kenya, where Foster volunteered and helped coach a rugby team he also played on. Then Foster moved to New York City.

Then he volunteered in Ethiopia.

And *then* he joined the Peace Corps.

His greatest adventure in the Feature Writing class here at USF was his pursuit, and subsequent interview of, the elusive legendary journalist and USF grad Warren Hinckle, which James describes here.

James is being interviewed by Washington Post Radio tomorrow. He confides, " I'm sure they'll want to talk about my project, but I'm going to steer the interview in the direction of: 'How exactly does one go about getting a job at a paper like the Post?' "

Well played, James

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Keep up the good work.