Early College High School graduate plans to pursue journalism

Published 5:35 am Thursday, May 18, 2023

Editor’s Note: This is part of a series of stories profiling graduating high school seniors in Smith County.

Nayeli Carrillo entered kindergarten not knowing a single word of English.

Now she’ll graduate Tyler ISD’s Early College High School with an associate degree in journalism and plans to continue in the field with hopes of becoming a television news anchor.

“Throughout my academic experience, I’ve learned to speak English, and I feel like I’m better at speaking English than Spanish at this point,” Carrillo said. “But I want to continue growing as a communicator because it’s the most important thing we have.”

Early College High School allows students to obtain their diploma and an associate degree simultaneously through a partnership with Tyler Junior College (TJC).

She was born and raised in Tyler and attended Bell Elementary School called Bell Global Communications Academy.

Carrillo recalled a video in which she was filmed while being interviewed at the elementary school. In that video, she realized it was a communications-focused school and had a full-circle moment.

“I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, that must be why I want to pursue this,’” she said. “That influenced why I want to be a journalist because of my upbringing in that school and all the support I had.”

Carrillo is the oldest of four siblings: Rodrigo Carrillo, 13; Edgar Vasquez, 5; and Adrian Tezino, 4. Her mother is Nancy Tezino, and her father is Rigoberto Carrillo.

She will be the first person in her family to attend college.

“I want to be their role model,” she said. “I want them to see my accomplishments and think they can do that too.”

Carrillo is ranked fourth out of 56 fellow students.

“I’ve pushed myself to be up there,” she said. “I’ve been motivated by my friends, who’re also in the top 10. Surrounding myself with people that can motivate me has helped.”

She has been a member of the National Honor Society and serves as the 2022-2023 NHS president. Before that, she was involved in student government.

She founded The Parliament, a student media source at ECHS, after her involvement with The DrumBeat, the student news outlet at TJC.

“We hadn’t had a student media club, but because I was in The DrumBeat at TJC, I kind of got inspired to create one at Early College High School,” she said.

So far, The Parliament has been published online twice, but Carrillo hopes more students will get involved and continue it long after she’s graduated.

“I wanted to create something that can have its effect, like lasting. I want it to be here even after I leave,” Carrillo said.

Carrillo also arrived at school early to present the morning announcements and was voted homecoming queen by her peers.

Not only is she a dedicated and outgoing student, but she also works a part-time job at Brookshire’s.

“That has taught me to prioritize time, to be on time, to give back to my community, and it’s given me customer service experience,” she said.

She received four scholarships from the East Texas Communities Foundation for $21,000 to continue her education at UT Tyler, but she also received free tuition from A&M San Antonio.

Carrillo is honored to have been chosen for the scholarships, she said. She decided to attend Texas A&M San Antonio, according to Tyler ISD.

She wants to thank her parents and English teacher Lisa Ellis for continually inspiring her to do her best. She also thanked Dean of Students Andy Haas for giving her some advice she’ll take with her into the future.

“’You can’t be good at everything.’ And that took me until like two weeks ago to realize. I’m not going to be good at everything,” Carrillo said. “Even though something is easy, not everything is going to be easy. So I’ve learned not to be too hard on myself.”

Early College High School’s graduation ceremony is set at 7 p.m. today at the Tyler High School varsity gym.