AlumKnight Thomas Manglona II shines as a journalist

Thomas Manglona, who is an undergraduate and Gates Scholar at UC Berkeley, secured an internship with ABC7 News in the San Francisco-Bay Area this year. He credits all of his family, mentors at Mt. Carmel, and various local journalists for his success. (Contributed Photo)

Amidst all his studies at the University of California at Berkeley, Thomas Manglona II, a 2016 Mount Carmel School AlumKnight, continues to pursue his passion for journalism.

Most notably, Manglona was recently granted an internship with ABC7 News in the San Francisco-Bay Area. At ABC7, Manglona will be working behind the scenes and assisting professionals in the field and studio. The program is only open to juniors and seniors, but as a sophomore he was able to use his reporting experience to garner the internship.

Early in his time at UC Berkeley, Manglona landed a position as a correspondent with the university’s award-winning CalTV television network, from where he would eventually be promoted to news director and general assignment reporter. Recently, he was selected to lead CalTV as its executive director.

Prior to UC Berkeley’s CalTV, Manglona completed the JCamp program, one of the most prestigious journalism training programs in the nation. Sponsored by the Asian American Journalists Association, JCamp is a six-day multicultural journalism training program for freshmen, sophomores and juniors in high school who attend the camp at no cost, thanks in large part to the support of donors such as the Annie E. Casey Foundation and other corporate sponsors.

Manglona also worked as a correspondent for the Pacific News Center for their ABC7 and FOX6 platforms and reported for the Saipan Tribune, North Star,h Sports magazine, and Marianas Variety.

While a student at Mount Carmel School, in addition to leading the school’s “Knightly News” journalism club, Thomas served as student council president during his senior year and was active in a variety of extra-curricular and co-curricular activities, including Junior Statesmen of America and Youth Congress. He graduated from Mount Carmel with honors and the Bishop’s Award for Service, the Governor’s Award for Leadership, and the President’s Award for Excellence.

Manglona is pursuing a degree in Media Studies at the University of California-Berkeley with a Gates Millennium Scholarship. He also works under UC Berkeley’s Centers for Education Justice & Community Engagement as a community advocate for the Pacific Islander community under the Asian-Pacific American Student Development Office. (PR)