MENTOR NETWORK
Alex Nieves '15
He/Him/His
East Bay, CA
Oxy Major/Minor:
DWA
Current Company:
POLITICO
Current Position:
Policy Reporter
Campus Involvement/Special Programs:
Track and Field, Occidental Weekly
Secondary Schooling:
Master of Journalism, UC Berkeley
Favorite MP/Cooler Food:
Pasta Bar
Best Oxy Class:
Anything taught by Professor Lan Chu
Groups I Identify With:
Any!
Bio:
Alex Nieves covers cannabis policy for POLITICO's Sacramento bureau. Before joining POLITICO, he covered local government for Richmond Confidential while completing his master’s degree from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. He's also interned at the Los Angeles Daily News, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and Sports Illustrated. A Los Angeles native, Alex received a B.A. in Diplomacy & World Affairs from Occidental. While at Oxy, he worked for the Occidental Weekly and was a member of the track and field team.
Career Advice:
Be willing to explore a range of career options while in college and try things you may not have thought about previously. Before joining the Occidental Weekly as a sophomore, I had no prior plans of becoming a journalist. It became clear within just a few weeks at the Weekly that journalism was my future.
Once you've decided on a career, you need to get your foot in the door. Apply for every internship and fellowship you can. Once you've landed that first gig, everything will start to fall into place. And, if you feel that your growth is stagnating, don't be afraid to make a change, like going to grad school or finding a new job.