Channel 27 News Reporter Renee Aldana on Moving to Madison

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Renee Aldana joined the channel 27 news team here in the Mad City in April of this year.

She's an LA native. Renee is a graduate of our rivalry in the Big Ten Michigan State

University. And Renee has worked for Fox Sports, NBC Sports, ESPN, NASCAR, and even the Big Ten

Network. And now a multimedia journalist at Channel 27. Renee spends her work day looking for

stories about people in our neighborhood and covering the news of the day wherever it might

happen. Renee Aldana, welcome to Maxing Radio. Thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be here.

You know, as a newbie to Madison, we have to start with food because Maddie is in it is a foodie

town. Where do you like to go to eat in Madison? Yeah. So fresh mart is an international market

over on university avenue. That place is amazing. I love their food. Oh my gosh. They've got a

whole bakery area which I am a pastries girl. Yeah. They get down. What's your favorite pastry?

Baklava. And they have got many different kinds of baklava. So I just had their chocolate milk

whatever baklava is so good. So the extra milk really added to it. I think a chocolate milk

Baklava. Yes. Wow. That sounds like a great place. We have to get there sometime. If Terry

brings us some pastries and we get some from over there, we're going to be stocked up here.

Oh yeah. Renee, your backstory. It must include sports, right? Tell us a little bit more about yourself

and you know, how you got to to the university and yeah. So I'm the oldest of eight kids. Wow.

So there is a lot of us. I'm also the like I said, I'm the oldest. So they kind of did their own

thing and growing up, I did get into sports. I played volleyball, basketball, softball, I did track.

So I kept myself busy. That was kind of like how I found my community was through playing sports.

Nobody else in my family really did. But once COVID hit and everybody was held inside. That was kind

of how I connected with other people and decided that I wanted to go back to school. I didn't go

right out of college. Oh, I took some years off. So during COVID, you know, I'm watching a

Chargers football game. Justin Herbert comes out and I was like, okay, I want to be on those

sidelines now. So that's what I did. I went back to school. My mom was born in Pontiac. So Michigan

state it was. Okay. I was accepted in like two days. So because you're from LA, right? I am from

LA. Yeah, I did two years of community college. So that saved me tons of money with that

state tuition. Yeah. And then I transferred to Michigan state and it was honestly the best decision

I could have ever made in my life. It was so great to be there and to experience what the Midwest

sports are like. Because it's different in California. People don't really pay attention to

college sports like they do here. Oh, really? Oh, yeah. You talk about UCLA or US people don't really

know, but you mentioned, oh, I'm just going to say Michigan state because I don't even want to give

anybody else any credit. So you mentioned Michigan state and people are going to talk, you know,

so it is different here. Yeah. Wow, that's pretty crazy. And how was it going from LA to,

you know, the Midwest, the upper Midwest there almost in in Lansing? Yeah, it was so different.

I mean, the weather is the first thing, right? When it starts to get cold, I would look outside

and I'm like, oh, yeah, easily 60 degrees. I walk outside and it's 40 and I am not dressed properly.

And I've been here three years and I'm still trying to figure that out. But after I'm winter,

40 degrees can be ball me, right? Yeah. By the end of the winter, I'm like 40 degrees tank top

and sandals. Right. But once it starts getting to 60 when we're coming into fall, I'm like, oh,

I am Californian because I am freezing. I'm in a turtleneck and I'm scared for winter months.

Yes, yes, definitely. What would you tell young people who wanted to get into journalism and

news broadcasting? It's a lot behind the scenes. Yeah. You think that you want to be a reporter,

but you really only see like 5% of what we do, 95% is editing and research and a lot of other

things go into it and it can be kind of heavy too. So I think making sure that this is really what

you want to do, figuring out why you're passionate about it and sticking to that and then also just

being really conscious of your mental health and taking breaks when you need it, knowing when to

take something and when to leave it is really important in this industry for sure.

Do you play musical instruments? You know, I used to play the violin, but that was in third grade.

So I was really good, but unfortunately I had to move away and I wasn't able to stick to it.

But my dad plays the guitar or the piano and all of his family does. So when we get together,

they'll play, they'll sing. I can't sing for my life, but I'll jam out. I'll do a little finger

movement, you know, but can't catch me singing. So music spanning your life. You were an intern

for NBC Sports last year for the Summer Olympics in Paris and talk about working at the NBC headquarters

to cover the Olympics and that was in Connecticut, right? Yeah, I was in Connecticut. It was

at their at their headquarters. So a lot of the people who actually call the sports for the Olympics

aren't actually on site. They're in a little sound booth in Connecticut. I guess we don't know

what they're actually doing. No, no, not at all. So a lot of those people are actually in Connecticut.

One person, for instance, Ryan Shackler, skateboarder, right? Everybody knows Ryan Shackler. Or if not,

they need to get themselves familiar with Ryan Shackler. Like the Shackler MTV, he had his own show.

Was very important to me in high school. I still say yes. Yes. Thank you. He's really tough to look at.

It's tough. Speaking of looking at him, you're in the headquarters and you're grabbing lunch in

the cafeteria and he's just walking by casually. It's like, this is kind of awesome. You're also seeing

a lot of the events before the world gets to see it. So we're watching like the 100 meter and

cheering on Noah and we get to see it all before everybody else does. The higher ups are like

telling us that we need to quiet down because we're cheering super loud. You have to bring that

energy. It's right once every four years. Wow. That's incredible. What the sporting moment

have you covered that you'll never forget? Tom is those 700th win. Wow. Yeah. It was absolutely

amazing. The Brazilian center is incredible. But you throw in a 700th win for Tom Iso and it is

just unlike anything you've ever seen before. For those of you who don't know, Tom Iso, who is it?

Tom Iso is the Michigan State basketball coach. He currently has the most wins in the big 10.

And I do have to say that just to make that clear because Wisconsin does fall not too far

behind, but they are behind. Tom Iso is our guy. He needs keys to the city. He is pretty much

Michigan State. He's been there for a very long time. So to see 700 wins for him there was just

incredible. I couldn't think of anybody who would deserve it more. He's a great guy. What did the

crowd do when when the last second ticked off? Oh, scream. Yeah. Screaming. The student section is

insane, but they also gave out tons of 700 win posters. So everybody was raising these posters up.

People are all on the courts and he's doing his interview and you just see everybody cheering him

on. All the players around him. You can tell how much they really love him. So it was just a surreal

moment for me to be there because I know so many people who grew up just admiring Michigan State

and for me to come in from California and to just kind of be able to experience that moment,

but almost like an outsider since I didn't grow up in the area, but just to watch it play out

was just incredible. Like I said, it's not like Southern California. It's very different here.

Well, tell us about moving to Madison to become a media journalist for Channel 27 news team.

Madison and Michigan State aren't that different kind of cities, right? Tell us about coming

here in Madison. Yeah, it actually took me a year to get this job after I graduated. So

it was a little rocky, you know, I was applying all over the country, just kind of wherever I land,

I land. And this is where I ended up landing. Yeah, it's only about eight hours away from my family

for a drive. So that's really nice. But coming here, I didn't really know what to expect.

It's amazing. The people here are incredible. I get to meet all different kinds of people in the

community here in Madison in this rounding areas. And everybody has been so welcoming and coming

from California. I probably say that I'm from California a little bit too much. And it, you know,

everybody's just still nice. I have some questions that might sound a little off, but everybody has

been so kind and the area being able to drive around and see all the water or farms or water

and farms. It's like a dream come true. I feel like I'm living in a movie. So do you say

bubbler or water phone? Oh, I've never heard bubbler. That's only in Milwaukee. Yeah.

I thought that was a Wisconsin thing. I also say so. I've never heard anywhere else.

Yeah, I've never heard bubbler before. Oh, yeah, we can. Where's the bubbler?

What is your favorite favorite part of working as a media journalist?

I think getting to do something new every day, being in news, I didn't actually grow up

watching news. So I didn't really know when I was getting myself into. But, um, yeah,

every day is something different. I have eight hours and I learned so much and I squeezed it all

into a minute and 30 seconds and then go to bed and do it again the next day. So it's nice,

because it's a huge variety of things. You never know what you're going to be covering.

Like, well, what do you interview moment? Will you never forget here in Madison?

Here in Madison. Um, oh, that's so hard because I've done so many stories, but I would have to say

just because I am a sports person. Yeah. I got to cover the AMFAM golf celebrity for some.

And Justin Herbert was one of the celebrities. Oh, and he's the reason why I went back to college.

So that was a very surreal moment. I felt like I could retire. But I feel like I have more

important things to do, but that was definitely probably top moment in Madison. Yeah.

What's a moment that you've, like, watched that you were like, is so sticks in your head,

just even as growing up on not even on the news. But yeah, like I can think about different sports

moments growing up that I'm like, oh my gosh, that like, ignited a passion. So like, what's

something that made you be like, I'm going to do that someday. Yeah. Um, well, that Herbert,

that Herbert game was the reason why I went back to school. But I think being at Michigan state

and actually getting to work the sidelines of a lot of those games was kind of like,

reassuring me that this is exactly what I wanted to do, feeling the energy of the crowds.

Also Michigan state across the board, their sports programs are all winning programs.

Their soccer teams, one recently, their tennis teams are doing phenomenal basketball.

I'll leave out football. But there's a lot of other, a lot of other sports I'm forgetting

cross-country track. Everybody does so well. So it didn't matter if I was in that football stadium

or if I was covering tennis where not many people showed up, the energy of the people that were

there, all of that was just amazing to be able to be a part of. Now what's coming up in your future?

You have a podcast and how do we follow you online? Yeah. So I mostly use Instagram. My

Instagram is my first and my last name. It's Renee Aldana. And then I am going to be starting a

podcast. I'm super excited about that. I should be posting it next Tuesday. So very excited.

Yeah. It's going to be a little bit sports, a little bit life, growth, strengthening.

Yeah, I'm excited. Wow. I can't wait to see your new podcast. That'll be awesome.

Renee Aldana from the Channel 27 news team. Thank you so much for taking the time to come to

our studio tonight above State Street and Chad with us on Maxing Gradio. We really appreciate it.

Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Well, let's kind of keep with a Madison theme

right now. I have a song for you guys from Elizabeth Mary. Now she was outside of Wisconsin.

She was in Iowa. And then she moved to Madison here. Met Paul Schlitter and Megaton Studios while

they were recording this very song. This is Meet Me in Madison, Elizabeth Mary. Listen to Maxing

Gradio. We are local music.