When Eric Bazail-Eimil (SFS‘23) was five years old, he wanted to be a pianist. In high-school, he wanted to be a prosecutor. But during his time at Georgetown, Eric found his true calling as a journalist.
Today, he is a national security reporter at POLITICO, where he has written about topics ranging from the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis to prisoner swaps in Venezuela. He has previously written for Reason magazine and the Wall Street Journal – which is where he wrote his first front-page story while still in college.
Eric first moved to Washington, D.C. from South Florida in 2019 for his freshman year at Georgetown. As a student in the School of Foreign Service, he majored in regional and comparative studies, with a focus on African and Latin American studies. Although he participated in a variety of organizations on campus during his four years – from the Hoya, to GUSA, to Catholic Ministry – he says his involvement with GU Politics was most influential.
“GU Politics made it really clear [that] Washington will be a better place when we treat people with respect and kindness.”
After joining Spring ‘20 Fellow Lily Adams’ Student Strategy Team (SST) in January of his freshman year, Eric never stopped coming to the Living Room. Over the next three years, Eric joined two more SSTs and worked his way up the ranks of On the Record. He joined the Student Advisory Board (SAB) as Fellows chair in his junior year, before ultimately becoming co-chair of the SAB in his senior year.
He says GU Politics provided him space to develop the skills he now uses everyday.
“I am definitely more comfortable in professional settings than I would have been four years ago,” Eric said, “and it started by going to talk to people like Rep. Joe Crowley in office hours, or Sen. Doug Jones… that was a really impactful first step.”
Over the course of his time in the Living Room, Eric built relationships with GU Politics Fellows who mentored him and encouraged him to write, eventually leading him to pursue journalism.
Through it all, he says his most memorable experience was during Fall ‘21 Fellow Amna Nawaz’s first discussion group, which “formed the moral crux” of his journalism career. They discussed the case surrounding Gabby Petito, which Nawaz contrasted with the crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women in the United States.
“I think it was really interesting to talk with Amna… about how media coverage needed to… really treat the whole humanity of people and had to treat people not as just statistics, but as real individuals with stories that had to be told and taken care of.”
He explained that GU Politics had taught him many ethical principles that he carries with him every day on the job. Whether it’s the Capitol, the White House or the Pentagon, Eric appreciated the way the Institute revealed that Washington was made of everyday people trying to do good.
“You’re going to be in public service. Remember that part always and … [don’t] let this place consume you with any visions of grandeur. It’s an important place to be, there’s so much that is at stake here. But it’s also run by people.”
His advice for current students is simple: talk to anybody and everybody. Eric attributes much of his early-career success to the relationships he cultivated at GU Politics, especially with GU Politics Fellows. In fact, one of his supervisors at POLITICO was somebody he met in the Living Room – Spring ‘23 Fellow MJ Lee’s husband, Alex Burns.
“You just never know where somebody’s gonna go in this town,” Eric said. “So talk to everybody.”
If you are a current undergraduate student at Georgetown interested in journalism, Eric would be happy to connect with you.