Hi, I'm Candy!

I’m a bilingual journalism student at the University of Florida specializing in broadcast journalism.

As treasurer of the NAHJ-UF Chapter, I helped create opportunities for student journalists to grow and connect with media professionals by managing the chapter’s funds, tracking expenses and overseeing budgets. We secured a $500 grant from the national NAHJ to organize our first-ever Open House Latino Showcase, an event that highlighted the work of Hispanic and Latino student journalists and gave them a space to share their stories with friends, family and faculty. As part of the showcase, we held a storytelling competition for web and broadcast where 31 students participated with 12 TV packages and 19 articles in English and Spanish. We have also developed several fundraising ideas, including a $5 entry fee for nonmembers, selling journalist-themed pins and other chapter initiatives, which have helped us raise more than $125 to support future programming and events.

Telemundo Academy

Accepted into Telemundo Academy, a selective training program for emerging bilingual journalists. In our first session, we learned how Telemundo’s digital team operates along with insights from the human resources side, focusing on how to adapt TV stories for digital platforms using vertical framing, strong hooks, captions and calls to action. We also completed the reporter session, where we created a nat pkg, practiced a breaking news scenario as if we were live and strengthened our on-camera and storytelling skills. Finally, during the producer session, we built a full rundown with assigned stories and learned key producing techniques. Grateful for the hands-on experience and the opportunity to keep growing alongside industry professionals.

I manage Noticias WUFT’s Instagram account, including content planning, captions, audience interaction and analytics. I created the weekly News Quiz segment, designed covers for 90 Seconds of News and implemented regular posting of web stories and student-produced reels in Spanish. Between Sept. 16 and Oct. 15, 2025, the account reached 62.3K views, 1.6K interactions, and 52 new followers; reels average 500–1,000 views each.

Bilingual reporter and anchor reel featuring my work in English and Spanish.

We lead initiatives to connect and prepare aspiring journalists for professional opportunities. Our team organized a Career Fair Bootcamp, which included professional headshots, a resume workshop, and a demo-reel training session. We also coordinated a field trip to the Gainesville Latino Film Festival and are planning one to Mainstreet Daily News, a local Gainesville newspaper. 

I served as the main anchor for Noticias WUFT Radio, the station’s Spanish-language news program, presenting local, national and international news. I edited the show and produced interviews for the public affairs segment, including an immigration attorney discussing TPS for Venezuelans, mental health specialists on parents’ well-being when their children decide to study outside their home country, and a registered dietitian on building healthy habits. My responsibilities included scriptwriting, research, outreach, recording, editing and production.