Mariana van Zeller

According to van Zeller herself, after her third application, in 2001, she flew to New York City and knocked on the dean's door, explaining her dream of becoming a journalist in the United States.

She was contacted that morning by a producer from SIC Notícias, where she had previously interned, and was directed to meet a news crew atop the CBS Building in Midtown Manhattan, where she would go live in three hours.

"[3][4] After receiving her degree from Columbia, van Zeller moved to London to work for a documentary producer, with hopes of covering the Iraq War.

[citation needed] With London as her new base, she studied Arabic at Damascus University in Syria in order to better seek out stories in the Middle East.

[2] Van Zeller is married to her former Columbia classmate Darren Foster, who is a series producer and director with National Geographic Channel.