Today we’d like to introduce you to Elena Tabraue Romo.
Elena, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My story began on a small island in the Caribbean. Like many kids from a poor country, I had big dreams but few resources to achieve them. However, my mother always told me, “if you get a degree, your future will be better.” Based on that, I dedicated my time studying during high school to get good grades and to be admitted to the geoscience program at the University of Havana, Cuba. In 2005, I started to study meteorology. Still, one year before I graduated, I left my University, my country, and my family to come to the United States looking for a better life opportunity.
When I arrived in Miami, a lot of doors closed in my face because I didn’t speak English, but instead of feeling sad or defeated, I got more motivated to fight for my goals. First, I created a list with my objectives from a short and long time, and that helped me to focus on what was important to me. Next, I studied English at Miami Dade College. After I finished there, I transferred my credits from Cuba to Florida International University in Miami, where I graduated in 2014 as a meteorologist.
However, the hard part began after I graduated because I was looking for a meteorology job for almost two years, and every time that I applied, the answers were you don’t have the experience, you have a strong accent, and you never did an internship in the United States. At that moment, I thought that everything I did was for nothing, and I didn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. Then, I made a decision to work in any job even if it was not related to meteorology and do my master’s degree at the same time.
In January of 2016, the result of all my efforts came, and I got a job in Telemundo, Oklahoma. I never thought I’d work in television, but on the first day, I loved this job because I can help my Hispanic community. I got a lot of experience with severe weather in Oklahoma, and that helped me to move on. Today, I am a meteorologist for different cities at the National Weather Center in Univision. I feel very happy because I am doing what I love, and I am informing and preparing our community for natural disasters.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
As an immigrant and woman, the road where I am today has been full of obstacles. At the beginning of my University in Miami, when I spoke, some professors and students looked at me saying how can you study a science major, as geoscience, if you don’t speak English perfectly. I felt very bad from those comments. But every time when I listened to someone telling me, “you can’t do that, or that is impossible for you,” I studied more and worked harder to demonstrate that when you fight for your dreams, nothing is impossible. In the end, all my efforts to graduate with a bachelor’s degree got a meteorology job, and be a better professional was worth it.
Please tell us about your work.
I have a bachelor’s degree in Geoscience from Florida International University in Miami. As a meteorologist, I have been working almost five years on television, and in the last three years, I produce and broadcast weather forecasts for different markets across the country. Thanks to my current position, Ive gotten experience in hurricanes, winter storms, severe weather, and California’s wildfires.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I define success as the path where you enjoy the result of your effort. Each person is successful in a different way. But what we all have in common is that we have fought at some point in our lives to achieve our dreams, which is nothing more than our success.
Contact Info:
- Phone: 305-713-4266
- Email: etabr87@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elenatvtiempo/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elenatvtiempo/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/elenatvtiempo
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCONvs3B67OaLr2QnBWFE0zw?view_as=subscriber
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