By ANNA MARIE BORIA
Playing sold out arenas around the world, working with Latin music royalty and working on National Broadcasting Company, one of the biggest television networks in America, is a dream. To television production teacher Gerald Carrero-Santana, it is part of his resume.
Carrero-Santana was a professional musician before he became a teacher. He worked in the music industry for over 40 years and worked with artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Gloria Estefan and Marc Anthony. Later, he became an editor for NBC newscasts.
“The exposure is what inspired me to choose the field of music. I would enjoy having people tell me they saw me on TV and it was just visually intriguing,” Carrero-Santana said.
Working behind the scenes at NBC, he felt frustrated because of the lack of recognition. Getting the occasional “pat on the back” was the kind of recognition he would have liked to receive more.
Carrero-Santana describes his fond moments while working with NBC were seeing his family flourish in the field of entertainment. His nephew is Latin Grammy Award winning rapper, Migelito and his niece plays Angie on the Cartoon Network series Level Up.
“I got into broadcasting after being a musician for so long because I feel that they go together. I was always so intrigued on how people could spend hours just looking at a box,” Carrero-Santana said.
One of the main motivations for switching to broadcasting was his daughter, Lilliana, who at age 13 was kidnapped in Daytona Beach.
Being in the field of broadcasting opened multiple doors for Carrero-Santana while he was searching for his daughter. Multiple programs where they show time-progressed photos of missing children, aided to eventually finding his daughter alive.
This experience changed his occupational mindset; he felt the need to give back to the community and decided to try teaching.
“After a certain time you get tired of always traveling and not being able to see your family. One of the worst experiences is playing an arena on New Years Eve and when the clock strikes midnight seeing everyone hugging and kissing their families, but being thousands of miles away from yours,” Carrero-Santana said.
Carrero-Santana worked at Jones High School for over a decade before coming to Boone. The most challenging part of this change is the acceptance of the student body.
“It has been difficult to try to begin to fill these very big shoes since Mr. Lyons [former television production teacher] left. These students really enjoyed him,” Carrero-Santana said.
From a career spanning from NBC to Boone’s BBC, his tip to anyone interested in a possible career in the field of music or in television broadcasting is to stay focused.
“The things that are the hardest to get are the most cherished. Let your dreams take you on the ride of your life,” Carrero-Santana said.
Below are three different websites one can go on to take career aptitude tests to see different options of possible career paths. They also have different information on specific careers one may be interested in.