Coming to the United States not knowing English was a struggle to overcome, but Ana Sanchez used this experience to benefit her career as a broadcast journalist on Telemundo.
“It was a big culture shock,” Sanchez said of moving to Texas from Mexico.
According to her news personality Facebook page, Sanchez holds a job as a producer and news anchor of weather and news for Telemundo Lubbock and New Mexico.
The youngest of seven children, Sanchez was born in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. Sanchez spent most of her childhood in Mexico before her family moved to Olton, Texas, when she was 10 years old.
Sanchez said she did not like school because she did not understand anything, and because her classmates would make fun of her for not being able to speak English. The school hired translators to help her understand the curriculum and to teach her the new language.
“I didn’t want to speak English at all,” Sanchez said. “I really kept quiet throughout sixth grade and seventh grade.”
When she entered high school, Sanchez said she began to talk more. By the time she entered her junior and senior years, she said she was fluent in English. Sanchez began taking dual-credit classes and started to think about attending college.
“I never thought in my wildest dreams, while being young in Mexico, of going to a university.”
Sanchez said she toured Texas Tech with her mother.
“Whenever my mom saw how excited I was,” Sanchez said, smiling, “she told me, ‘you know, your dad and I are going to work really hard so you can go to school.’”
Sanchez said her parents both worked low-paying jobs, but she did not qualify for financial aid because she did not have immigration papers. Before graduating with her bachelor’s degree from Tech in 2012, Sanchez traveled to Mexico to receive her legal documents.
After working as a waitress throughout most of her college career, Sanchez said she graduated from Tech and started looking for jobs.
According to her LinkedIn profile, Sanchez gained experience by working as a reporter and anchor for Texas Tech Today and interning at Univision Television Group and Telefutura in Dallas.
“I put everything in God’s hands and said, ‘You know what, you’re going to give me whatever is best for me.’”
Sanchez said she went through an interview process, and landed a job as a producer and weather reporter for Telemundo Lubbock. She finally worked her way up as a full-time news anchor for Telemundo Lubbock and New Mexico.
Claudia Tristán, news director of The Hub and Sanchez’s former classmate, said she is very proud of Sanchez and her accomplishments.
Tristán said she admires the humble qualities of Sanchez. Despite her success, Sanchez does not let the celebrity status faze her, Tristán said.
“I think that she is such a great model as a Latina, as a Hispanic woman, and as someone to follow. She’s the epitome of what the American dream is.”
William “Kelly” Kaufhold, an assistant professor of journalism at the Tech College of Media and Communication, said Sanchez was an adventurous and ambitious student.
Kaufhold said he is thrilled with Sanchez’s successful career and is delighted to watch her work.
“She has positioned herself beautifully to have a really exciting and successful career,” Kaufhold said.
Sanchez said despite her struggles with a language barrier and family hardships, she achieved her goals by hard work. Her dreams of becoming a news reporter as child came true.
“Everything I had always dreamed of happening has happened throughout the years,” Sanchez said.
About Jenabeth Gunter
