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Irene Marie Cruz

CruzIrene Marie Cruz graduated in three years with a B.A. from the University of California, Irvine in Spring 2013. Right now she’s working as an anchor/reporter for KYMA-TV, the NBC affiliate in Yuma, Arizona.

During her college years, Irene interned at the CBS station in Chicago and the NBC station in San Diego. She loves all forms of storytelling, whether it be longform or broadcast.

Irene first developed an interest in news after watching a childhood cartoon. The New Adventures of Superman. From then on, she wanted to be Lois Lane, taking on the ideals of truth and the public's right to know! The best part about working in news is learning different things about the world every day.

In her free time, she loves to write fiction, read Young Adult novels, ballroom dance, and laugh until her stomach hurts.

The story behind the story:
I’ve always been fascinated with stories about people facing off against elements of nature. I love hearing about the journey; I love hearing about inspirational people. So you can imagine my enthusiasm when I first heard about Cindy Abbott! It doesn’t get more inspirational than her. She has so much strength and confidence and she’s always ready to take on the world.

When I first talked to her, I realized that this story was more than just a woman venturing out into the wilderness. I saw that this was about a relationship between musher and dogs, an experience completely out of a comfort zone, but more importantly…this was a story demonstrating that the definition of success isn’t what you always expect it to be.