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Nicaraguan hopes to use Spanish, English as reporter

Alejandra Cabezas

The clock in the radio station says 9:37 p.m., but disc jockey Alejandra Cabezas can’t think of how to say the time in English.

“It’s three minutes to 9:40 p.m.,” Cabezas said.

Cabezas said she was nervous and made a few mistakes the first couple of times she went behind a microphone. But those setbacks didn’t stop her from mastering the skills it takes to keep a radio frequency filled with sound.

During the spring 2001 semester, Cabezas ran her own Latin music show on 89.7 WUEC. The radio station, which broadcasts from an on-campus studio, is operated by the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire but is affiliated with Wisconsin Public Radio and National Public Radio.

Cabezas, a 21-year-old UW-Eau Claire senior from Managua, Nicaragua, expects to graduate in May 2002 with a broadcast journalism major. Her interest in journalism began in high school after her best friend had decided to become a doctor. Although Cabezas said she wanted to help people, she didn’t want to be a doctor. She also knew she wanted to educate society, but didn’t want to be a teacher.

Working as a journalist will allow Cabezas to help and educate people, she said. 

“I want to tell people the accurate things that are going on,” Cabezas said. “I want to give them some information so they can actually make their decision -- if they agree with x or y.”

Cabezas said her communication skills also drew her to major in broadcast journalism.

“I’ve always been good at getting my point across if I have something to say,” she said.

To gain experience in her field, Cabezas completed an internship for about two months in summer 2000 at KCUE 1250 AM in Red Wing, Minn. She also interned at TV-2 in Managua for a month during this summer as the assistant producer for a weekly news program.

Although she first considered working as a freelance reporter for CNN, Cabezas said she has changed her career goal to a job where she can write news happening in Spanish-speaking countries for English-speaking audiences, and vice versa.

Because she knows how to speak two languages, Cabezas said, “I have an extra door to news and events that other people don’t.”

Cabezas said she hopes to use what she’s learned through her political science minor by reporting on political or economic news.

“My dream is to own a radio station that would broadcast to the entire country of Nicaragua,” she said.

As an international student who began learning English three years ago, Cabezas said she struggles while writing and becomes frustrated when it takes extra time to complete homework.

Although racism and sexism have affected her confidence in finding a job in the Midwest after she graduates, Cabezas said she believes she'll succeed.