By Brittany Arquette
City Times
From a cheerleader in Mexico to an NBC video editor, City student Micaela Arroyo has had a long, hard two years. But this June as she accepts her diploma, she’ll put those troubles behind her and look ahead to the future.
“My dream is to be a reporter for ESPN Deportes and cover everything form NCAA Football, to MLB, to UFC, just every single sport,” Arroyo said.
Growing up in Mexico, Arroyo got the opportunity to meet several sports reporters while cheerleading for a triple A baseball team. She says those influences motivated her to pursue her dream of being a network sports reporter. But in Mexico, the opportunity of becoming a female sports reporter was slim.
“I knew I had to come to the U.S. because of the limited opportunities in Mexico. But it was hard to get myself here,” Arroyo explained. “My parents and I had to save money for a year in order to have enough money to prove to the school I could pay for my tuition as well as books and all my living expenses.”
Once arriving at City, Arroyo jumped right into the world of broadcast journalism. She joined Laura Castaneda’s Newscene class, where she got the opportunity to start filming, writing, and editing her own sports pieces.
Castaneda said from the moment she saw Arroyo, she knew the girl was going places.
“Every once in a while, a student comes along and you say to yourself ‘that young lady will make something of herself’,” Castaneda said. “And that was the case with Micaela Arroyo. Since the day she walked into one of my classes, I’ve admired her tenacity and her always positive attitude.”
Castaneda went on to say there is no doubt in her mind we’ll be watching Arroyo reporting sports nationally one day, and getting paid the big bucks.
While Arroyo looks up to reporters Oscar Soria and Anderson Cooper, she says Casta§eda is also one of her biggest influences.
“Laura has taken me under her wing and helped me out in so many ways. She’s my angel,” Arroyo said. “Being in Newscene has taught me everything I need to know to go into the real world and work in a newsroom. From the technical side of things, to the writing side, and even the camera side.”
It seems Arroyo, who has been nominated for several student Emmys, is already on her way. Last year, she started reporting traffic part time for many local radio stations.
Now, only one month shy of graduating, she has started working at NBC 7/39 as a video editor. A huge step for Arroyo into the world of broadcasting.
“One of our Newscene instructors, Chris Acedo, works at NBC and informed me they we’re hiring for bi-lingual video editors,” she said. “I went ahead and sent in my resume tape and the next thing I know, they called me in for an interview!”
As things are coming together for Arroyo, she says she is beginning to see the big picture, a picture that was blurred in the past.
“The past two years have been like a storm of knowledge that had a big cloud in front of me,” Arroyo said. “I always knew there was something behind it, but I didn’t know if it was ever going to be clear. But now, it’s clearing up, and I can see that there is so much more past that cloud.”
With only a few weeks left until graduation, Arroyo is already excited to take her fresh diploma home and show her parents what she has accomplished.
“Graduation will be a turning point. A new beginning, and a great achievement,” Arroyo said. “Especially for my parents, who didn’t have the opportunities they have given me. I can’t wait to get that degree and give it to them and make them proud.”
Arroyo also thanked John Hildebrand, Mike Kaye. Craig Chatfield. Larry Quick, Roz Jordan, Chris Acedo and all of her Newscene classmates from the past two years. She said she couldn’t have done it without them.
