NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Every year, WGNO-TV, in conjunction with Loyola University, gives away a scholarship to a deserving communications student.
This year’s winner is Baton Rouge native and senior Jariah Johnson.
The size of the award is just over $47,000 and covers one year tuition, but according to Chairman of the Mass Communications Department Michael Guisti, the award is well-deserved.
“Jariah is a terrific journalist but what stands out to me is the presence and the attitude and the positivity that she brings. She walks in the room smiling and everyone wants to smile,” said Guisti.
Johnson brings that same energy to the start of her career, “I feel like I don’t really care where I end up because the reporters that I’ve met today that’s been doing this for 20-30 years, they all start at the bottom. They built their way up so that’s kind of what I want to do.”
In the spring, Johnson will graduate, and she credits her mom as her biggest cheerleader, “She’s been supporting me, no matter how much it is, and I just feel like she’s going to be so happy and so proud, and I was crying for her because it’s going to me a lot for her.”
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