Mariana van Zeller

Meanwhile, I was 24, 25 years old.

I had like zero experience doing a live feed.

I just moved to the United States.

Actually, it's an interesting story how I even got to the U.S.

because, you know, I applied for Columbia University three times.

The first time I was not accepted.

The second time I was put in a wait list and didn't get accepted.

The third time I flew to New York and I knocked on the dean's door and I explained I'm Portuguese.

I really want to come to this university.

I want to be a journalist in America.

And he sat me down.

We spoke for an hour.

And that year I was accepted.

And it taught me my first big important lesson in journalism, which is persistence.

Get in there.

Don't be afraid to get nos because, I mean, what's the worst that can happen, right?

But a month after this, I'm in New York.

I'm sleeping in the morning, and I start getting phone calls.

And I was sleeping that late because I'd been studying until really late that night, the night before.

And the first phone I pick up was my television station that I'd worked for in Portugal.