Students gathered in the Fleishman Center for Career and Professional Development to listen to Binghamton University alumna Sunny Hostin speak as part of Harpur Edge’s Cool Connections/Hot Alumni series.

On Wednesday afternoon Hostin, ’90, discussed her career path of becoming a co-host of “The View,” a multi-platform journalist and a lawyer. She said students should relate her story to their lives and encouraged questions.

As a native New Yorker, Hostin grew up in the Bronx with what she said was a supportive family. Her first career steps began when she was accepted to the EOP program and received a scholarship to attend BU at the age of 16. She said she enjoyed learning and was capable of taking an accelerated route because of her determination, having skipped fourth grade.

A year into her biology major, Hostin said she realized that science was not her true passion. She said she had a strong affinity for reading, writing and telling people’s stories, and subsequently decided to change her major to English. She told students that sometimes it’s okay to be unclear about one’s life path, and that the most important thing is to never lose sight of one’s interests.

“Nothing goes without a challenge,” Hostin said. “Sometimes you just have to follow your passions and interests and grab the bull by the horns. Just go for it.”

Hostin graduated from Notre Dame Law School in 1994, and said she loved studying and practicing law. As a federal prosecutor, Hostin mainly dealt with child defense cases, placing sexual predators in jail and removing children from abusive environments.

Law helped pave the road toward a journalism career, Hostin said, since similarities between the two are abundant. Law had helped hone her writing, interviewing and investigating skills. Her first job on television was as a commentator for Court TV, which she said came about by luck.

Hostin was not there long before Fox News contacted her. She said she worked for Fox for a year through Court TV before CNN then reached out. Next, she took an offer from CNN and worked there for six years. Then, ABC News contacted Hostin. She anchored overnight for a while before being contacted to co-host “The View.” Once that opportunity came around, she said she knew that she found her place with ABC. Currently, she is a legal correspondent and analyst for ABC, and said she enjoys what she does.

“You spend more time at work than you do at home or with your friends and if you’re going to work everyday in a field that does not light you up, you’re going to be a miserable person,” Hostin said. “You know by now what lights you up and what’s interesting, and whatever that is, you should figure out a way to quantify that and money will follow.”

Many students said they took Hostin’s advice and tried to relate her story to their own personal lives. One student asked Hostin how being a woman of color impacts her career. Hostin said that it adds a different perspective and value to a team. Unfortunately, however, sometimes it’s not acknowledged and she’d have to go out of her way for her employers.

“I feel like I have to work twice as hard to get half as far,” Hostin said. “Unfortunately, with the state of things currently, this has been my reality.”

Hannah Oh, a sophomore majoring in business administration, said she had always been a fan of Hostin. She said Hostin’s success was inspirational because she does exactly what she wants to do in life.

“You can really tell that she loves what she does,” Oh said. “I saw the light in her eyes when she spoke about her current career.”