Several years ago, a Saint Bernard High School junior heard a compelling radio broadcast while riding in the family car with her father. She had turned and stated resolutely, “That’s what I want to do with my life. I want to be that voice people hear bringing them the news.”

That high school junior was Julia Rose Costello of New London, who now goes professionally by Julia Rose, 23-year-old associate producer for Channel 3 out of Rocky Hill.

Costello’s journey into journalism, triggered by a chance incident in the family car that day, found further stimulus when a recruiter from the highly acclaimed Lyndon State College in Vermont visited Saint Bernard, touting one of its specialties: journalism.

“Initially I’d had other schools in mind,” she said. “But the presentation made by the staff of this college had such an impact on me. ... Linked to the school was an Emmy Award winning broadcast company that carried a great reputation. It was run by the students.”

Costello knew then that the train she wanted to take would lead her, both figuratively and literally, to the right station. Once at Lyndon State, another defining moment surfaced. Like most credible schools, Lyndon State required a full liberal arts study for the first two years, mixing into it the specialized curriculum she would take as an electronics journalism arts major.

“My concentration was in television journalism, and with all the time spent working at an actual broadcasting station, News 7, you really wind up knowing your stuff,” she said.

Her training would be put to the test early in the form of a controversial, proposed closing of the high school portion of a small but popular public school in Concord.

“It was such a big story at the time, and a lot of people were opposed to the actions being taken by the town,” Costello said. “The reason given for the partial closing was to offer more options to the high school-aged students. But my research indicated otherwise.”

She said it was really a budgetary issue, and she decided to interview everyone involved: teachers, administrators, residents, town council members, parents, anyone who had something to say on the matter. Many locals loved the progressive little school and were against closing down its high school portion, feeling it offered the quality of education that would best serve the community.

“I felt very strongly about providing an outlet for the people of Concord so they could express their feelings on the subject,” she said. “I wanted opinions other than my own to be aired. This was their story to tell, not mine.”

The high school faction of the Concord School did wind up closing, but Costello looks back on it all with a surge of pride in having done her job on behalf of others.

Two more significant incidents surfaced just prior to her graduating from Lyndon State. In one, she learned via a friend’s text of a tragic car accident, leading to her rushing to the News 7 studio and grabbing a camera for the impending coverage. The other involved extensive and in-depth coverage of an escaped prisoner in the immediate area. And in her stock mode of operation, she delved into the facts thoroughly before broadcasting them.

In graduating, Costello’s relentless pursuit of responsible reporting helped earn her the number one rating for highest marketing status in her class and a number three ranking of Lyndon State electronic journalism arts majors over the last 10 years.

Immediately out of college, she had an impressive interview with Time Warner but was not awarded the position and felt an obvious sense of disappointment.

Television broadcasting is a difficult, highly competitive industry and, despite her sparkling academic years, she wound up working, instead, at the Crystal Mall and at Watch Station at Foxwoods. Costello wondered if she would ever find work in her chosen field.

Then came the e-mail sent to all her school’s journalism alumni: an opening for an associate producer at Channel 3, Connecticut’s number one TV news station.

“I responded immediately and after a month of correspondences that involved telephone interviews and a four-hour in-person meeting, I was given the job,” she said.

Costello’s responsibilities include writing newscasts, prompting for anchors, editing, and cut-ins.

“I absolutely love the work I’m doing as an associate producer,” she said. “Of course, though, I look forward to a day when I am back out there as a reporter again, learning people’s stories and providing them with a voice when they need one.”

At this time, Costello makes the 40-minute commute up and back to Rocky Hill from New London, working demanding hours and happily immersed in a dream that was spawned one day while riding in the car with her father. Destiny, it seems, had indeed been awaiting her.