Alex Couraud’s path to journalism wasn’t a straight one. From serving in the Peace Corps to navigating an uncertain future during the pandemic, each experience eventually brought her to the Reynolds School of Journalism, where the Coverdell Fellowship gave her the opportunity to turn her passion for cross-cultural storytelling into a career.

After completing her undergraduate degree in international relations, Couraud joined the Peace Corps in 2018. During her Peace Corps service, Couraud lived with a host family in the small village of Agua Escondida, situated on Lake Atitlán in the Western Highlands of Guatemala. She worked with the Department of Agriculture to help provide programs for people facing food insecurity or malnutrition. It was here she developed a passion for cross-cultural communication and became fluent in Spanish.

The job she had lined up after her Peace Corps service fell through due to the pandemic, leaving her uncertain about what to do next. That’s when she learned about the Coverdell Fellowship, a program for graduate students at the Reynolds School for eligible Returned Peace Corps Volunteers. The fellowship provides recipients a fully funded graduate teaching or research assistantship, helping them earn an affordable master’s degree in journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno.

She set up an initial meeting with Kari Barber to learn more about the Reynolds School’s graduate program and was immediately sure she had found the right place — somewhere she could continue her education in communications while telling cross-cultural stories she is passionate about.

Couraud received the Coverdell Fellowship and moved to Reno to begin the graduate program. At first, she planned to focus on public relations and communications, building on her background in nonprofit work and fundraising.

But it was an audio reporting class that changed the direction of her graduate experience.

“I took one audio class with Nico [Colombant], audio journalism. And I was like, wait a second. I love this. Could I do this? It's different, but it still fits. I can tell international stories,” Couraud said. “That was a big defining moment in the program, and I then decided to go the more traditional, multimedia journalism route.”

Couraud dove straight in. From taking courses like International Reporting to publishing stories for Noticiero Móvil, the Reynolds School’s Spanish-language student outlet, Couraud continued to produce multimedia reporting throughout her time at the Reynolds School.

She credits much of her success to the connections she made with faculty, like Claudia Cruz, manager of Noticiero Móvil and instructor for the course “Latino/as Through the Eyes of the Media,” for which Couraud worked as a teaching assistant.

“The program's small, which is really nice because you get to get really close with the professors,” Couraud said. “The professors are all connected with the local news outlets ... it's very cohesive”

That combination of multimedia and cross-cultural reporting followed Couraud into her internship with The Nevada Independent, where she reported in both English and Spanish.

Much of her internship focused on podcasting, where she helped produce the outlet’s podcast, “Indy Matters,” during the 2023 Nevada legislative session. She also worked on the outlet’s Spanish-language reporting team, including producing their Spanish news podcast, “Cafecito Nevada.”

After graduating in 2023, Couraud continued pursuing the kind of international storytelling that had first drawn her to journalism. She was granted a fellowship through the International Center for Journalists, which brought her to Amman, Jordan.

Through an international exchange program, she worked with a Jordanian media firm called Wishbox, along with the U.S. Embassy in Jordan. During the two week fellowship, Couraud met with local journalism students, visted a podcast studio and talked about press freedom with the Center for Protecting Journalism.

“It was really cool. That was probably my favorite thing I've done since graduating,” she said.

She then extended her trip and traveled to Egypt to meet other journalists working there.

Back stateside, Couraud has worked as a multimedia manager for the Sierra Nevada Ally and continues to freelance, covering local politics and underserved community issues in her hometown of Portland, Oregon. But as budgets shrink across local news, Couraud says building a career in journalism hasn't been easy.

“I will say, when you get to the real world of journalism, it's harsh. It can be hard to make it and you’ve got to really push,” Couraud said.

Despite the uncertainty of the industry, Couraud remains committed to the kind of journalism that drew her into the field in the first place: telling stories that cross communities, cultures and borders. “It can be a hard job market, but I love it so much and, to me, it's worth it.”