Erica Alyssa Hernandez said her time at the University of Florida was “a lot of fun and a great experience.”
“I got a lot of real-world experience,” said the 2015 College of Journalism and Communications alumna, “and I think it was a great time to ‘cut my teeth,’ to get a feel about what journalism really is.”
Hernandez is skilled in multimedia journalism, video editing, photography, news writing and storytelling. She said she learned some of these skills at WUFT.
While at UF, she was a sports writer for the Independent Florida Alligator, specializing in UF tennis, volleyball, basketball and gymnastics coverage. She was also involved in organizations like the Hispanic Student Association and the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), where she served as president of the UF student chapter.
In 2013, she was the recipient of SPJ's Region Three Mark of Excellence Award in Sports Writing in Large Publication.
After graduating, her career took her to Atlanta, where she was on the visuals team at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution for about two years.
And — breaking news — she is excited about what’s coming next. She was recently hired as an associate mobile producer at CNN Digital.
Hernandez is a local leader for the Online New Association Atlanta chapter and a proud Cubana who enjoys good coffee. When she was asked to describe herself in three words, she came up with convincing, optimistic and ambitious.
“I’ve only been doing this for three years, and I think that there’s so much that can happen,” Hernandez said. “It’s hard to predict but I would like to have a long and successful career.”