Luis J. Rodríguez Reynoso ’11, Alumnus

Luis Jaime Rodríguez Reynoso recalls being guided to Bloomfield College by a teacher from his high school. That very day, he came to campus and participated in Instant Decision Day. As they say, the rest is history.

Yet, as the first in his family to graduate high school, and the first to consider college, Rodríguez Reynoso had numerous worries early on. How would he pay for school? Was he prepared to navigate a new environment? Was he making the right decision?

“The size of the school really helped me. Everyone was very supportive. I grew up on public assistance, and it was not until I figured out how to fill out the FAFSA that I realized how poor my family truly was,” he said. “Thankfully, the funding I needed was available to me.”

“When I first started, I quickly learned there was more to education than academics. I learned that it included a social life, and I wanted to be part of campus life to do my part to make it better,” said Rodríguez Reynoso. “But I worked full time and attended school full time so it was impossible to get involved on campus at first. Eventually I was let go from my job due to the 2008 recession. It was a blessing in disguise because now I could be more involved on campus. My leadership instincts took root at Bloomfield, and I was moved to become a student leader and to make an impact. I was an orientation leader, I joined a fraternity and eventually became an RA. At one point I was president of the International Student Club. I got to know people from different walks of life—from Korea, Puerto Rico, St. Lucia, the Philippines, India and Jamaica. The experiences I gained opened my eyes to what it means to be a global citizen.

 “I was definitely not just a number at Bloomfield. Greek Life is where I learned a lot of my organizational skills. Creating programming was a great way to learn how to navigate the college and how to apply for funding for events I was interested in holding on campus.

“My years at Bloomfield studying interactive media and digital video production set the backdrop for what I do today. I remember the kick off of Bloombox TV. We started doing interviews with students representing various interests—athletes, musicians, and others—and we put their videos on YouTube. I did the camera work and got experience. But it was the Office of Career Services that helped me get my first internship. The staff there made the introduction to a television production company in New York City that catapulted me forward to doing television production work for interviews with celebrities such as Bon Jovi, Beyoncé and Elton John. If it weren’t for Career Services, I would have never found myself there in those moments. It was the Bloomfield College staff in Career Services that helped me build my resume and apply. Later on, my work at the production company got me recommended for a position at CNN.”

A lifelong dream of Rodríguez Reynoso has been to earn a Telly Award for his video work. He recently accomplished that with The Pink Locket, featuring the work of a jewelry design company. Telly Awards showcase the best work created within television and across video, for all screens, and from all 50 states and 5 continents. Rodríguez Reynoso received four silver and one gold award in the 2021 entries. Earlier that same month, he also became the recipient of a silver Communicator Award for Race Through Education, a podcast on the intersectionality of race and education in America.

Starting out as a Production Assistant at CNN in 2014, Rodríguez Reynoso has grown into his current role there as Associate Assignment Editor, and is also Owner/Creative Director at Polymath Productions, LLC, in Atlanta, Georgia where he specializes in producing, video editing, match moving, multimedia, 3D modeling, web design, digital composition and in English/Spanish translations.

“My ultimate goal is to influence humanity for the better...media influences everything from what we eat, to what we wear, and sometimes, who we marry...such a powerful tool has the ability to build nations...and if used properly, there is no limit to the success the world can have,” he added.