Arzen Rose Dulzura

Karen Davila looks back on the journey that led her to a career in news

Article (news)

E. Kristhoff Cagape

Push Team

Karen Davila took a trip back memory lane and looked back on the path that led her to becoming a newscaster.In an interview with Karmina Constantino on the KC After Hours podcast, Karen revealed that broadcasting wasn&#x27;t her original dream as she had her sights set on fashion design.&quot;I wanted to be a fashion designer, iyon &#x27;yung totoo. Idol ko noon si  Donna Karan in the 1980s and I can actually draw,&quot; she revealed.Karen took a chance and applied for a full scholarship. &quot;What happened was, so my dream was to go to Parsons School of Design in New York, after high school I applied for a full scholarship there and na-reject ako and I thought my life would be over,&quot; she said.That rejection prompted a pivotal turn in her life. Karen enrolled in the University of the Philippines Diliman and shifted her focus to Mass Communication.&quot;I went to UP Diliman and I was thinking, ano bang dapat kong i-take up. Nung una fine arts, sabi ng tatay ko, &#x27;Please parang awa, kung di ka ganun kagaling, mahirap ang buhay mo.&#x27; So I&#x27;m not great in Math so I took up MassCom (Mass Communications). Although in high school, I was the editor, etc., but when I took up MassCom, it was only a professor that told me, &#x27;You should do the news &#x27;cause you speak well.&#x27; I never thought of entering television. Really,&quot; she recounted.<iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" id="instagram-embed-0" src="https://www.instagram.com/p/DDmgE2XPx-X/embed/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=768&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com&amp;rp=%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A69448.30000001192%2C%22ls%22%3A68403.80000001192%2C%22le%22%3A69060%7D" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="847" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-0" scrolling="no" style="background:white;max-width:540px;width:calc(100% - 2px);border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219);box-shadow:none;display:block;margin:0px 0px 12px;min-width:326px;padding:0px"></iframe><script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>Karen explained that her decision to shift career goals was also influenced by her family’s financial difficulties at the time.&quot;During that time... when I was growing up, my parents were financially hard up, my father lost his job,&quot; she relayed. &quot;My priority being the eldest was ayaw kong maging pabigat sa mga magulang ko, so I felt that MassCom was a place, a course, that I could shine, that I would enjoy but I didn&#x27;t know where it would take me.&quot;She credited her eventual career in television to destiny. &quot;I am a believer in also trusting in God&#x27;s plan for your life. Kumbaga destiny. Minsan kasi &#x27;yung akala natin na para sa atin, magugulat ka na mas may magandang plano para sa&#x27;yo so you have to allow it,&quot; she stated.She also attributed it to her grit. &quot;When I got rejected for scholarship abroad, I thought my life would be over. Ang tagal kong iyak nang iyak, but wala eh. I have grit. I think when you&#x27;re built for survival, what you need to do is just move on and you do what you need to do.&quot;Karen also shared the life lessons from her parents that shaped her work ethic and mindset through the years.&quot;My dad told me noon nung papunta na ako ng college, &#x27;Alam mo Karen, the only barrier to you and success is you. You cannot blame anybody. Kapag ikaw if you fail, you can&#x27;t look at other things, you just have to look at what your role is in that,&#x27;&quot; she recalled.Karen went on: &quot;Number 2, my mother told me: &#x27;Karen wala akong mapapamana sa&#x27;yong alahas, pera, lupa, pero if you finish your schooling, you can be anything you want to be but nothing will be served to you on a silver platter. So parang I knew I wasn&#x27;t entitled to anything. I think that was the mental resilience that I had when I started my career which was in GMA 7 by the way, then eventually I moved to [ABS-CBN],&quot; she remarked.Karen has been working on television for three decades now.

Karen Davila took a walk down memory lane as she reflected on the path that led her to a career in news.

Karen Davila took a walk down memory lane as she reflected on the path that led her to a career in news.