Lorna Tychostup, an independent journalist and photographer, recently recounted stories from her trips to Iraq in her presentation to students “Making Peace With Many Truths: The War You Won’t See on TV.” Having visited for a total of four months on four different trips, she offered an extensive and personal view of what she saw going on in that country.

Before Tychostup started her presentation, she showed a video clip of her being interviewed on Fox’s “Hannity and Colmes.” Students saw her get fired up and stand up for her beliefs on a national network when she got into an argument with one of the interviewers about the condition of the Iraqi people before and during the war. This set the scene for what she would talk about the rest of the night.

She started her presentation by asking everyone to “leave your agendas, preconceptions and previous thoughts at the door.” She then shared photos of her trip and explained the conditions of the Iraqi people and how they struggled to survive. She told of the people she met, both political and regular citizens, the violence she witnessed, and the problems with the reconstruction of the country. She met with army officials who told her their reasons for being there and what they were fighting for, as well as different citizens and how they continued to survive without a home or a job.

She did all of this by going around the country as an independent journalist, without a bodyguard. She sometimes traveled with other journalists, but most of the time she traveled with only an interpreter and a driver.

She kept the audience captivated to the end, and then followed her presentation with a question and answer session. There, she stressed her belief that students are important in the decisions that are made every day, including what goes on in Iraq, and that they are the key to the future. “Go out and change the world. It’s in your hands,” said Tychostup eagerly. “Infiltrate, get into the system and make a change.”