MIPA Upstart students pose for their last group photo together before the closing ceremony on July 23.
MIPA campers and staff, it’s been an honor to serve as your 2026 Upstart Fellows. We may have only convened for five days, but it felt like a lifetime of treasured moments. We feel incredibly fortunate to have been given the opportunity to cover all of your ups and downs, and successes and failures at MIPA camp. If we captured your bad side in a photo, please don’t take it personally. But just know, you made our jobs so much easier through your dedication and passion for your work.
We’ve admired your audacity, courage and passion for this community of journalists. Seeing you spend hours in the recording booths, spin anxiously in your chair during “hotseat” and wait nervously in line for your question at press conferences has both reminded and taught us what it means to be fearless.
The magic of MIPA lies in the community. The laughter that follows from playing basketball, the antics of campers during rec time, the MSU Dairy Store trips to get Munnster’s Mint Fudge. It was embodied beautifully again, and we hope you take the magic of MIPA into the next year of your journalism career.
To the rising seniors, we hope you decide to join the Upstart program for next year. If you’re on edge, take the leap. We promise you won’t regret it.
To our fellow Upstarts, we can’t wait for a reunion. See you next year.
Sincerely,
The 2026 MIPA Upstart Fellows