\u201cThat’s all I talked about for months straight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was actually a colleague who spotted the role at NASA JPL and thought of Raquel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe sent it my way because she thought I might really enjoy it. It was \u2013 I think, just everyone knowing I\u2019d love that path before I knew myself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Five years later, Raquel is still in love with NASA and space exploration. She has hosted live coverage of the 2021 Perseverance Mars landing and \u2013 more recently \u2013 was a JPL correspondent for the Europa Clipper launch broadcast. She won the British Council Culture and Creativity Award in the US in February 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was shocked,\u201d she says. \u201cI was so impressed by everyone else that it was humbling to think it was going to be me. I was just excited to be there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of Raquel\u2019s biggest challenges at NASA is translating complex topics into terms everyone can understand and get excited about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen I\u2019m talking to scientists and engineers, I really have to be honest with myself and know I understand what they\u2019re saying and that I\u2019m able to ask questions,\u201d Raquel says. \u201cBecause if I can\u2019t explain a technical term right back at them, the general public won\u2019t understand either.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Taking this to the next level, Raquel also produced content in Spanish, soon after joining for NASA en Espa\u00f1ol<\/em>. She is of Bolivian heritage but covering concepts like this in her second language took some work, she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI can speak Spanish at home, but I’d never thought about technical vocabulary when it comes to talking about spacecraft and all the terms. I really studied and practised with my dad \u2013 he’s an engineer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Completing this content was the proudest moment of her career, she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s my goal for the world to know how great space exploration truly is. The chance to communicate in multiple languages and make it accessible to a wider audience is something I always dreamed of.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Raquel was born and raised in Wyoming, before moving to Colorado to study her undergraduate degree at the University of Denver. She first attended the University of Westminster as part of a study abroad programme during her junior year, but she later returned to complete the International Broadcast Journalism MA in 2008.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Being so far away from home was hard, Raquel says, but she made some great friends on her course from all over the world. Many of them are still working in journalism and they have a huge WhatsApp group. Some of them have discussed arranging a reunion on neutral soil, though it\u2019s hard to find somewhere nobody lives. (\u201cWe were thinking Japan would be a good place, because I don’t think we have anyone from Japan.\u201d) She also has very fond memories of the Harrow campus\u2019s resident cat, who really helped with home sickness (\u201cHe would come and just keep you company, but when he was ready to go, he’d let you know \u2013 he was adorable.\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, the course\u2019s hands-on nature taught her \u201cself-sufficiency\u201d in a professional sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI learned how to be a presenter; I learned how to be a producer. I learned how to write and how to collaborate. I learned to work with my colleagues, which eventually translated into working with co-workers. That collaborative spirit was all possible through the work and the projects I did during my Master\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Within four years of completing her Master\u2019s, Raquel had landed a role at 9News, Denver\u2019s leading local news channel. During her five years there, she worked on local news stories, hosted a weekly DIY show (where she was nominated for an Emmy Award<\/a>!) and interviewed celebrities at red carpet events and music festivals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2024\/12\/Raquel-V-NASA-edited-1-scaled.jpg\")
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