Alexandra Marquez

I am a senior journalism and anthropology major at the University of Maryland, College Park. I also work as a full-time intern for NBC News in Washington, D.C., assisting the "Andrea Mitchell Reports" team with research and production. Previously, I covered congressional and national news for McClatchy's Washington Bureau, with a focus on covering the Texas congressional delegation for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. In the past, I've also written for The Diamondback in College Park, Globe Post Media in Washington, D.C., and for Washington Gardener Magazine in Silver Spring, Maryland.

My parents are from El Salvador and Ukraine and I speak three languages – Russian, Spanish and English. My passion for journalism began when I joined my high school newspaper and began covering issues important to the Silver Spring community, like Board of Education initiatives, new demographic trends in the school district and opportunity gaps between students of different socio-economic backgrounds. When I'm not reading, writing or listening to the news, I'm probably playing with my two cats, Lio and Leto.