[media-credit name=”Ernesto Rivera/Staff” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]

ONE MAN SHOW – SWC Alumni Chris Soriano shoots footage for his video resume at the San Diego Courthouse in Downtown San Diego. Soriano was recently boradcasted on CNN.A mean high school teacher used to tell Chris Soriano he would never accomplish anything. That was before he published a novel at 16, reported sports at KUSI and appeared on CNN. Not bad for a 23 year old with no future.

“She would always say to me ‘You’ll always be a failure. You won’t amount to anything’ and I took her discouragement and said ‘You know that’s messed up for a teacher to say,’” he said.

Rather than shrink away, Soriano rose to the challenge to show the world what he can do. He is off to a great start. As a young boy growing up in a tough part of Paradise Hills, he was not preoccupied so much with journalism stardom as much as survival.

“It was kind of hard for me to see all the fighting that went on,” he said. “Growing up with that you get stuck in a mentality where you think, ‘Am I going to end up in a gang? Am I going to end up eventually becoming successful?’”

His worst rumble, though, was with a darkly negative high school English teacher who predicted failure for the former SWC student who is nearing his bachelor’s degree in communication from SDSU.

“I’m going to do something that she’s probably never done and the idea of writing a book came from there,” said Soriano.

He spent the summer of 2006 writing his debut novel, “Kiss Me In The Rain.”

“It’s a love story…an American-type love story with a ‘50s theme,” he said. “Usually it takes people two or three years but I wrote mine that summer, it’s funny how inspiration can really move somebody”

“Kiss Me In The Rain” was published in fall 2006 by AuthorHouse.

“They saw me as a young kid, ambitious, willing to write and they decided to publish me at 16,” said Soriano.

A first-generation college student, he came to Southwestern College in 2006 and was pressured by his friend Jasmine Henry to pursue journalism.

“She just kept saying ‘You should do this, I believe in you,’” he said. “I got to a point where she was crying for me to do journalism.”

Henry, a former staff member of the SWC Sun, is now Soriano’s producer. She said she pushed him into journalism because of his writing talent.

“I saw him reporting and interviewing and everything else that goes along with journalism,” said Henry.

She pushed Soriano to take Journalism 151 taught by television news producer Jerry McCormick.

“It taught me that journalism is a way you can stand behind the people and work with them,” said Soriano.

McCormick said Chris was an eager student.

“It’s like everyone else was in black and white and that person is in color, and Chris was in color from day one,” said McCormick. “He was green at first but then he became this brilliant burst of sunshine.”

Soriano said a pivotal learning experience was when he was interning at KUSI when veteran reporter John Soderman grabbed him to help him on a story about a pipe bomb in Rancho San Diego.

“He would tell me things to tell the people and I would explain what was happening,” said Soriano. “I just saw that something in them just trusted me. It was like an epiphany moment where I just said ‘Wow, people trust the media and we can help’ and that’s what I want to do. I want to be a voice for the people.”

Soriano said after the pipe bomb experience he was approached by KUSI sports anchor Paul Rudy to do field reporting for the Prep Pigskin Report. He accepted, even though he knew nothing about sports. Soriano said he had to become an expert quickly.

“They threw me in the fire and I had to adapt,” he said. “And I wanted this so bad that I adapted anyway I could.”

He was moved when McCormick told him he pictured him being on CNN one day.

“I wanted to make that a reality, I wanted to shoot for CNN,” said Soriano. “Dreams could be as big as you want them to be and it’s your job to fulfill those dreams.”

CNN announced an assignment on their website for eye reporters to send in broadcasts of possible Academy Award predictions. Soriano came across the assignment and he finally saw his chance.

“I uploaded it on the CNN eye reporter website and the next day a producer e-mailed me and she was just saying that they liked my clip and wondering if they can air it.”

Soriano said that being aired on CNN was fun but he was still not content.

“You have to keep going,” said Soriano. “I’m going to work harder now, even harder.”

Soriano is currently working on his second book, “Slumlord,” inspired by homeless teens in Ocean Beach.

“I’m writing a love story within that to portray what these people are going through,” he said. “Art has the ability to allow people to see things that they normally wouldn’t see and that’s what I’m trying to do with this novel.”

Soriano said his ultimate goal is to host his own show on CNN.

“There are no Asian-American males on a national network and I want to be one of the first,” said Soriano.

McCormick said nothing can hold Soriano back.

“No doesn’t mean no to Chris,” said McCormick. “No means I’ll try you again later and that’s what you need in this business. Persistence and dedication, that’s what Chris has and you see it.”

Henry said Soriano has a bright future.

“He’s so successful in everything that he does,” said Henry. “He’s the most determined person I know, he’s the most goal driven. If he wants to go be a CNN reporter, he will.”

Soriano said he will keep plugging.

“You have to be really persistent if you want to be come anything,” said Soriano. “Even if the front door is locked and the back door is jammed, the window should be the next option.”