She is a well-loved mother, teacher, journalist, and friend. Ms. Carlson teaches Journalism and Broadcasting at Marist High School. Previously, she worked as a TV reporter and news anchor.
Carlson had many interesting moments during her TV career, but witnessing the execution of the Oklahoma City Bomber, Timothy McVeigh, impacted her tremendously.
“Witnessing an execution was a very challenging experience. To cover something like that, it was hard. It was so shocking and you are so personally impacted watching someone be put to death right in front of your eyes,” said Carlson.
Even though she went through tough experiences as a reporter, she also had many fun ones.
“I had a one-on-one interview with Vince Vaughn when he was filming a movie in Chicago, and I also got to go onto the set of Transformers when they filmed in Chicago,” said Carlson. “I’ve had a wide variety of experiences that have made my career very interesting from extreme highs to extreme lows and lots of dramatic events along the way.”
Carlson has one daughter, Cailyn, 13.
“I am a single mother of a daughter that I adopted from India when she was four years old. She is now about to turn 14 and is in 8th grade,” said Carlson.
By her own admission, she is a sucker for a rescue story.
“I have four rescue cats, one is blind and another one is the sibling to the blind cat,” said Carlson.
She is also part of the 4% of Americans who are vegetarian.
“I stopped eating meat when I was 16 because I just felt sorry for the animals and I never went back, so it’s now just part of who I am,” said Carlson.
Carlson will always put her daughter before anything else.
“Being a parent really changes you. It changes how you live your life because you’re suddenly not the center of your own universe anymore,” she said.
After Carlson adopted her daughter, her career path changed.
“Right around the time I adopted my daughter, my priorities shifted and I wanted to ensure that I was in a profession that was allowing me to spend time with her during prime hours, especially on holidays and weekends,” she said.
“I had been working in journalism for 20-some years, I enjoyed every minute of it, but I was exhausted and ready to switch to a profession where I would have dedicated time off on the holidays and on weekends so that I could spend more time with my daughter,” she said.
Carlson had been teaching part time at a few universities before she joined the Marist faculty.
“I started teaching part time as a professor at a couple different universities: Loyola, Benedictine, and Trinity Christian College,” she said.
Carlson is adored by many of her students.
“What sets Ms. Carlson apart from other teachers is that she’s very understanding and she’s always willing to help you out no matter what,” said student Mady Tracy.
