Alumni Story - Aranza Mora

Aranza Mora has been in the spotlight since she was 4 years old. 

“I grew up singing. I was very musical; I was used to public speaking and singing in front of large crowds,” she says.  

By high school, Mora knew she wanted to do something in television for her career, but she was still unsure what her specialty would be. 

As a child of immigrants, moreover, her big dreams seemed unreachable. “That’s hard,” people would comment, and then move on. 

Still, Mora chose to follow her dreams and majored in communications when she came to Delta College. And one fateful day while she was on campus, she stopped by the KWDC radio station.

“I knocked on the door. I told them that I wanted to be on the radio, and they told me to come back at 5 pm. It was 2 p.m., so I remember waiting around for 5 p.m. I was so excited," she says.

At KWDC, Mora met industry professionals who recruited her to work part-time while she completed her Delta studies.She finished her AA degree at Delta and transferred to Sacramento State, where she graduated with a degree in mass communications and media studies. 

Though she sometimes questioned whether television was for her, Mora stuck with it, and eventually landed the meteorologist position at Univisión-19 Sacramento.   

“I fell into what I love,” she says. “I get to help people in their day-to-day lives as a meteorologist."

When people tell her that they’re going to Delta because it’s “only” a community college, Mora has a lesson for them.   

“I saved money at Delta, so I’m debt-free. The best professors I had were at Delta. And you find out what you like here.” 

She has the following advice for anyone who has “huge” dreams like hers: “Believe in yourself. Don’t give up. I know that people hear it all the time but it’s true. If you want to do something, believe in yourself but also work for it. Knock on doors.” 

Because maybe the person who answers one of them will help you make your own dreams come true.