Mia Navarro could never attract the guys close to her age in the right way. She was a head taller than most of them and did not come off as one of the popular girls. Navarro was not the cheerleader type but more of a bookworm with wild dreams of being a salsa dancer and an ice skater.

But after watching "All the President's Men," her life goals changed from dancer, doctor to falling in love with being a reporter.

"I wanted to be a figure skater and a dancer," said Navarro. "Something I had no skill for.

Navarro, 49, is now a New York Times correspondent in Los Angeles for the style section and represents about five percent of minority journalists who are female in America and has covered social issues from environment friendly weddings to discussing issues of blended families.

Navarro is from San Juan, Puerto Rico. She was born on May 17, 1957 and from elementary school all through high school she attended the same private institution, San Antonio Collegio. This institution was a private Catholic school and the friends she made since she was 5 years old are still her close friends who she visits yearly in Puerto Rico. Because San Juan is such a condensed area with a large population, neighbors feel like family and not much changes as people tend to "stay put."

Although Navarro was born and raised in Puerto Rico, her aspirations as a college student to become a journalist brought her to the United States, specifically Washington D.C. As a sophomore college transfer student, Navarro attended George Washington University studying journalism.

"Three years in college were years of experience," said Navarro thinking about the language difficulties. "I knew how to read and write but people spoke so fast and in slang. The main change was mostly the language but D.C. had a lot of international students so it was good."

After graduating college, Navarro took a year off to join a fellowship in Michigan. This was great training ground for her as a journalist to prepare her for the many years of reporting to come in her life.

From there, Navarro was hired at the San Francisco Examiner as a general assignment reporter from 1979 to 1989. She stayed there for 10 years and covered almost every beat there is to cover, from fires, murders to court stories.

After years of reporting, She felt burnt out so Navarro took time soul search about herself in this profession. When she felt her moment to find a new route in life approached, an opportunity in Berkeley arose. Berekley held a one-year program as an intense course for journalism.

Navarro's plan was to move back to Puerto Rico where she already had a job waiting for her. The program was for mid-career professionals to figure out if their field is where they should stay at.

She missed reporting and knew that this was what she wanted to do, said Navarro.

Not only does she love what she does but it is evident to those who work around her.

"She's absolutely positive and creates an upbeat environment, said Catherine Billey, the manager of the Los Angeles office. "She is the one of the reporters to ask for input on things. I feel comfortable about approaching her. She's engaging."

"She really encouraged me and made me feel excited to continue in journalism," said Carolyn Nguyen, a CSUN journalism student who spoke with her on career's day on campus.

After she left the Examiner and soul searched about her professional decision at Berekely, she truly missed reporting. But there had to be a change. She knew she had to move to a better and bigger newspaper. She later joined The New York Times and was sent to Miami as Bureau chief for five years. Then she came back to New York in 1999 till 2004. From 2004 till now Navarro has been located in Los Angeles covering the style beat as her office overlooks the city and the famous Hollywood sign on the mountain tops.

Navarro plans to write books in the future when she finds free time but for now she is working on an article about sober companions.

Navarro met her husband during the transition from New York to Los Angeles. She married at the age of 48 but knew she found the right one.

"He's been worth the wait," said Navarro.