The Power of Connections
Houston TV News Anchors Share the
Cougar Connection
They say you can never go home again, but Cathy Hernandez (’09) and Bill Barajas (’10) might disagree. You’ll see the two University of Houston alumni reporting the news and spreading Cougar love at KPRC Channel 2 in Houston. Since their days at UH, work has taken them far and wide, and they are happy to be back home in Houston, working together — again.
It all started in Hernandez' senior year. She and Barajas met in a UH broadcast journalism course. It was just one class, but the two clicked and ended up working on several group projects together. “We hit it off,” Barajas said. "We never socialized much outside of class, but as we went our separate ways, we kept in touch about our careers.”
“It’s so important to stay connected in this industry,” Hernandez said. “As the years progress and you move to new jobs, it’s great to stay connected with people in your past, to network, talk about experiences and stay in touch. I guess it was just bound to happen that we’d end up working at the same place. We both wanted to get back home to Houston because we love this area.”
If there is one thing Barajas has learned, it’s the importance of connections. “You never know who you’re going to meet and how that connection could affect your life,” he said. “My takeaway from that is to always be nice and establish relationships because it might come back to you in another form. You may be in a position to help a fellow Coog someday, or perhaps a connection could open doors and provide an opportunity for you.”
In their student years, Hernandez was on the Cougar Dolls Dance Team (and later cheered for the Houston Texans). Barajas is a sports fan, enjoying football and basketball in particular. They both had already established connections in the broadcast business, as well. Hernandez was a UH intern at KPRC the summer of her senior year, and Barajas came from a family of broadcasters. His father, brother and cousin have all appeared in front of the camera.
After graduation, their broadcast journalism degrees took each of them to a number of cities around Texas and nationwide, but the two homegrown Houstonians longed to return to their roots.
“Cathy returned to KPRC a year before I joined the team, and when I came on board, it was so nice to walk into the studio with first-day jitters and see a familiar face,” Barajas said. “That was comforting. We picked up our friendship right where it left off.”
The two earned their stripes by reporting in the field for a while, but before long, both were promoted. Then, the opportunity came to work more closely together when both were assigned to anchor the weekend news. Hernandez sits at the anchor desk in the daytime, and Barajas takes his turn in the evening.
"We’ve come such a long way to now do this work together,” Barajas said. “It’s amazing. So many of our classmates have gone in other directions, so this is special. Fast forward to now, and we’re back home in the Houston community again. It’s a full-circle kind of moment.”
“Houston has a large Hispanic community, and we are both Hispanic,” said Hernandez. “We use our visibility to show kids and students in the Hispanic community that hard work brings success. Our daily work shows our strength and also represents our demographic in a very positive light.”
“Our viewers feel a bond with us, and they hear us talk about our days at UH,” she continued. “We share the pride in our school, highlight the football games and talk about what UH has to offer and what it has given to us. We talk about how the school continues to grow and even surprise some people with the national recognition UH receives. They relate to the experiences we share. And I know I’ve probably influenced a few people to consider becoming
a Coog.”
Built with Shorthand