Patricia Nazario '02

News Reporter: immigration, health and housing
KPCC-FM, Southern California Public Radio

For all that separates Columbia from all the other journalism schools, there was one added thing for the class of 2002. We were just beginning the program when the Twin Towers were attacked on September 11, 2001. That event immediately catapulted many in my class from students to national and international correspondents, as we filed stories about the tragedy for our hometown news organizations.

I had been a television segment producer and news reporter before coming to the Journalism School. I enrolled in the program, because I wanted to broaden my writing skills and learn from the best journalists in the country. My core group was studying radio when the attacks happened and I ended up filing stories for National Public Radio. I had never done radio before, and found it to be a challenging way of colorful storytelling. After graduation, I move to Buenos Aires, Argentina during that country’s worst-ever economic and social crisis. I lived there for a year and half and made my living filing short spots and long features for NPR, ‘Marketplace’ and the BBC’s ‘The World.’ I also learned Spanish.

Hopefully, you’ll never have to face an event like 9-11 while you’re a student at Columbia’s Journalism School. But rest assured the experience you gain will, nonetheless, shift your intellectual gears. The facility is state-of-the-art and the one-on-one time with top professors is invaluable.

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NPR affiliate station KPCC