American International College students had an amazing opportunity to speak with CBS 3 Springfield news anchor Cherise Leclerc on a recent afternoon.

There in front of her were six students who aspire to be in the same position she’s in, or along similar lines of her occupation.

Leclerc is an anchor for the 4 p.m., 6 p.m., and 11 p.m. newscasts for the CBS 3 Springfield.

Leclerc has also been working at CBS for 3 years now and has been the anchor for about 2 years.

She started off as just an intern doing reporting for CBS until she got promoted up to be an anchor.

Asked about that transition, Leclerc said, “I was a little bummed about it at first because I enjoyed the interactions when I went out on the field, but after awhile I got use to being an anchor and I love it now.”

The expectation for workers at CBS is very demanding. Although she is a anchor she is sometimes asked to go out and cover a story and get live coverage by herself.

“Here at this job you have to be capable to do many of the needs, they want you to be able to take more of the load that would usually require many people.” Leclerc said.

Leclerc also went to explain to the students about the experience of speaking in front of a camera and being able to keep your composure while many things are going on.

Leclerc said, “You have to be able to multitask, you can have your director in your ear telling you what to say next but at the same time you need to be fluent with your words.”

Also she went to add that depending on the story, there could be newscast members giving live updates about the story as she speaks.

For example she went to say that in covering the 2011 tornado that ripped across Western Massachusetts, she stayed on until it was over and inform viewers of what’s occurring, even beyond her regular shift.

“At one point around that time I worked 3 p.m. to 12 a.m., seven days a week for three weeks,” Leclerc said.

The availability for workers is very crucial, “Even when you’re not on the clock your on the clock, you never know when they will call you in,” Leclerc said.

Cherise Leclerc may not be one of the most known people, but she still has to stay professional at all times.

“I still have to keep control of myself because my boss knows all the big name people in Springfield,” she said. “And they may know me and I wouldn’t want them referring back to him saying I was acting crazy, that just makes us look bad as a whole.”

Taking in interns is something that CBS has available. They take about two interns per semester and start with working in the field fast.

“They pretty much throw you in the fire, you either come out alive or you don’t, but that’s the best way to learn,” Leclerc said.

The interns are doing hands-on work almost instantly within beginning, whether it be covering a story or writing a story.

One of the last questions asked was to discuss how does the social networking play into her job.

“Facebook has changed our entire goals, instead of trying to get users through commercials or word of mouth we’re using Facebook to get those likes to drive people to the web to drive people to our news cast,” Leclerc said.

Cherise Leclerc allowed the students of American International College to get a insight of what it’s like to be involved in the television broadcast world by answering all questions. She left the students grateful to hear her views.