DETROIT – Sitting in the WDIV lobby, waiting for my job interview, I was the most nervous I'd been in my entire life. I'd been considering a network job when the call came from Local 4. This was home. I was born here and grew up here and don't let anyone tell you otherwise, coming home to work on the #1 station is exciting and nerve wracking at the same time.
When they inevitably asked why they should hire me, I gave them 2 reasons: my family is here and I'd rather be dipped in a vat of hot oil than embarrass them and what happens here matters to me, it's not just another story.
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That was 2004 and after my first week, Devin Scillian looked at me and said "it's like you've always been here".
I graduated from the Detroit Country Day School--Go Yellowjackets! And went on to get my degree in Diplomacy and Foreign Affairs from Miami University in Oxford, OH. I then started working my way up the ladder in TV with stops at WLNS in Lansing, WRIC in Richmond, VA and WITI in Milwaukee, WI. I won a slew of awards along the way.
People ask me about my first name all the time. Mara is a Latvian name. She's a goddess in Latvian mythology. Not a surprising pick since my dad is an immigrant from Latvia. If you ever see us out and about and hear an unfamiliar language, we're speaking Latvian. I'm on facebook, and @maramacdonald on twitter where in between tweets on the news of the day you may just spy a couple in Latvian
MARA'S FAVORITE 4
- Favorite vacation spot in Michigan: Bay Harbor
- Favorite book: Can't narrow it down to one but love everything from To Kill A Mockingbird to Game Of Thrones
- Favorite movie: Anything 007
- Favorite Song: Pearl Jam's cover of The Who classic Reign O'er Me