On Fri., Apr. 24 broadcast journalist Sean McLaughlin came to speak in front of an AVID class about his career.

This opportunity all started when freshman Alexis Davis wrote a letter to McLaughlin asking him to come and speak about what he does in his everyday life as a TV anchor, hoping he would respond.

Completely unexpectedly, one day McLaughlin contacted Davis in order to set up a day for him to come and speak to the class. The AVID class was delighted to have this opportunity to talk with someone on TV.

He informed the class that he grew up in a small town in Iowa, and went to a high school where the graduating classes averaged about 50 students each year. When he moved to Phoenix, it was a complete life changer for him.

McLaughlin spoke about how his career that began in 1992, when he was working for channel 12. From there, he explained that in order to get where he is in his career today, he had to start from the bottom and work his way up.

McLaughlin credits his success to the News industry  with all of the internships he did in the past. Some of the internships that helped him the most were when he served as MSNBC’s weekday chief meteorologist and Sunday meteorologist on NBC’s “Weekend Today.”

McLaughlin has a very time consuming job, therefore any spare time he receives he likes to spend it with the most important people in his life: his family.

“Having a wife and children I learn to take the advantage of time that I have with them,” McLaughlin said. “Most of the day I’m at work and not home with my family.”

McLaughlin was not always the man he is today. At one point he was a boy growing up in a small town in Iowa, now he is the News Anchor for CBS Channel 5. He was able to achieve what he wanted because of his determination and initiative to make his dreams come true.