Nicole Trujillo, a 21-year-old senior from Santa Rosa, is our HoundBytes online magazine editor. Studying at Eastern New Mexico University for her Bachelor of Science with an emphasis in journalism and a minor in graphic design, she is an exceptionally eager student and her love for journalism came from a place of no writing at all, but capturing a story through a photo. A raw form, photojournalism is exactly as you see it with no staging as normal photography often calls for.
Nicole discovered this passion her sophomore year working for the Guadalupe County Communicator, an award-winning weekly newspaper in her hometown under editor M.E. Sprengelmeyer and worked there until her senior year. In that experience, she also found a mentor in Strengelmeyer, a well-known reporter who worked previously for the Rocky Mountain News covering the Iraq War and the 2008 US presidential campaign.
HoundBytes gives both online and on-campus ENMU students the opportunity to have their photos, articles, movie reviews, poetry, illustrations and more published. This exposure is something Nicole first experienced constructing stories for the University newspaper, The Chase. Through the Chase, writing became more of an appeal for Nicole as she was required to reach out to the surrounding community and she enjoys how satisfying it is for a good story to come together.
She stated, “Eastern is giving me opportunities to stand out from other graduates and I can’t talk highly enough of the staff here.” Nicole thanks a number of her communication professors for pushing her out of her comfort zone and providing her with pursuits she can learn from and grow as a journalist
