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By Maria Alejandra Serrano
Long-term documentaries and storytelling drive video journalist Keren Carrion’s career — one on the cusp of blossoming, now that she has graduated from George Washington University with a major in photojournalism.
“A finished piece,” Keren, 21, said. “It’s a big deal.”
As an only child, Keren has moved through many trials and tribulations alone and said they shaped her into the independent woman she is today.
“I choose to do hobbies and careers that are solitary,” she said. “That’s what I gravitate toward. I’m changing things and going after them without being tied to anything.”
Despite not having blood siblings, Keren said she does have “hermanas.” She has been a part of Sigma Lambda Upsilon, a Latina sorority, for two years.
Although G.W.U. is a predominantly white institution, the sorority offered her a space to celebrate her culture, she said.
Keren was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico and when she was 8, moved to Connecticut, where she completed high school.
Hurricane Maria, which hit Puerto Rico in September 2017, was a galvanizing force for her. Keren said she realized there were many untold stories she had the opportunity to tell — thanks to her platform.
“The worst feeling was not knowing if my family was O.K.,” she said. “The hurricane propelled me to make work about my community, Puerto Rico.”
She said the fact The New York Times Student Journalism Institute focuses on young black and Latino journalists was an opportunity she could not miss.
“It made me feel like I got a chance,” she said.
Photo by Ivan Armando Flores/NYT Institute