As a student-athlete at Rice, Lauren (Murphy) Ferrara ‘06 had great aspirations to be a news reporter. With a double major in Kinesiology (with an emphasis in Sport Management) and Psychology, Ferrara during her junior year knew her future would be in news reporting. Ferrara worked hard with the assistance of Dr. Clark Haptonstall, head of Sport Management department at Rice, to get an internship with KPRC. This internship was a sturdy base that helped her land her most recent job as a news anchor with Fox 21 News in Colorado Springs, CO.
“It is a little bit of a risky business, but I love what I do,” Ferrara said. “Hopefully, I get to do this forever. Plus, you make contacts and develop skills that can translate well into a lot of different fields.”
Ferrara put most of her concern into finding a job that she loved. She wanted something that she would be passionate about for the rest of her life. When she realized that news reporting was her calling, her journey began. Her challenge was to land an internship, without having any experience in communications. Houston’s KPRC Local News Station was looking for interns that were communications or journalism majors, but once Ferrara got her foot in the door she concreted her spot in their public relations department. After a few weeks of a job well done with the PR department, Ferrara asked Assistant News Director, Rick McFarland, if she could work in the News Department.
“Clark Haptonstall is a great ally,” said Ferrara.” He fought for me to get an internship with the promotions department at KPRC, when they were only interested in communications majors and journalism majors.”
Ferrara also mentions that her News & Writing Class with Professor Ronnie Crocker, who also works with the Houston Chronicle, gave her many opportunities as well. Ferrara firmly believes that having strengths in different areas opened many more doors for her career.
“Crocker brought in a different guest from a different TV station all of the time,” said Ferrara. “A few contacts I have made through that class have helped me to this day.”
Cali Roper ’16, a sophomore from Houston, Texas, is majoring in Sport Management.
