♪ >> WHAT IS YOUR FONDEST MEMORY OF BEING ON CAMPUS? >> I LOVE THIS. , LONGTIME NEWS ANCHOR AND NEW ENGLAND TV ICON, NATALIE JACOBSON LOOKS FORWARD TO TRIPS BACK TO HER ALMA MATER THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. >> THERE ARE SO MANY MORE DORMS. THAT IS STILL HERE. >> IS A NICE TO BE BACK? >> I LOVE BEING BACK. IT MAKES YOU FEEL YOUNG AGAIN. >> HERE AT THE COLLEGE MEMORIES FLOODED BACK LIKE THE STUDENTS CURFEW. >> IF YOU WANTED TO LEAVE CAMPUS YOU HAD TO HAVE A NOTE FROM YOUR PARENTS. >> SHE GRADUATED IN 1965 FROM UNH AND WENT ON TO BECOME THE FIRST WOMAN TO ANCHOR THE EVENING NEWS IN BOSTON. >> I AM NATALIE JACOBSON, GOOD NIGHT. >> OVER HER 40 YEARS ANTIBIOTIC SHE INTERVIEWED A NUMBER OF U.S. PRESIDENTS, -- A NUMBER OF U.S. PRESIDENTS, AND CELEBRITIES. SHE HAS NOW WRITTEN A BOOK ABOUT HER CAREER, EVERY LIFE STORY. >> EVERY LIFE IS A STORY, EVERY PERSON HAS A STORY. A WONDERFUL PART OF THE JOB YOU DO AND THAT I USED TO DO IS BEING ABLE TO TELL THOSE STORIES. >> WE SET DOWN TO TALK ABOUT HER STORY IN THE ARCHIVES READING READ -- READING ROOM. >> I WAS ENTHRALLED WITH TELEVISION AND THE WHOLE MEDIUM KNOCKED MY SOCKS OFF. >> BY GOLLY, WITHIN A WEEK OR TWO, THAT ORPHANAGE HAD MORE GOOD PROSPECTIVE PARENTS THAN THEY NEEDED. AND I JUST THOUGHT, IF ONE 30 SECOND SPOT CAN CHANGE THE LIVES FOR 47 KIDS AND OTHERS, I’M IN. THIS TV THING, THIS IS POWER OF THE BEST KIND. I’M IN. >> SHE WAS DETERMINED TO BECOME A REPORTER, BUT BREAKING INTO THE NEWS BUSINESS WASN’T EASY. >> ONE MAN JUST SAID ON THE PHONE, THERE IS JUST NO POINT IN AN INTERVIEW. WE JUST DON’T HIRE GIRLS. YOU COULD SAY THAT THEN. AFTER THE MID 70’S YOU COULDN’T SAY THAT ANYMORE. >> WHEN SHE WAS HIRED AT OUR SISTER STATION, WCVB IN BOSTON, SHE BECAME THE ONLY WOMAN ON THE NEWS TEAM FOR THE NEXT TWO YEARS. >> SO I GOT, YOU KNOW, THE STORIES THAT YOU WOULDN’T CONSIDER TERRIBLY IMPORTANT. BUT THAT’S OK BECAUSE I FIGURED I HAD TO PAY MY DUES. I DIDN’T MIND AT ALL, I HAD A LOT TO LEARN. >> EVENTUALLY SHE BECAME THE MAIN ANCHOR ALONGSIDE HER THEN HUSBAND, CHET CURTIS. LEADING THE STATION’S COVERAGE OF MAJOR STORIES AND EVENTS. >> WE WERE JUST LUCKY, TOO, THAT WE JUST CLICKED TOGETHER. IT SOMEHOW WORKED. IT WORKED PERSONALLY, AND IT WORKED PROFESSIONALLY FOR A LONG TIME. 25 YEARS. >> SHE RETURNED TO THE GRANITE STATE MANY TIMES TO COVER THE NEW HAMPSHIRE PRIMARY. AND SCORED NEWS MAKING INTERVIEWS, INCLUDING ONE WITH PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, TED KENNEDY’S WIFE, JOAN. >> AND THAT WAS AN ISSUE THEN BECAUSE THEY WERE ESTRANGED AND IF HE WON, WOULD SHE GO TO THE WHITE HOUSE? >> SHE WRITES THAT HER DETERMINATION COMES FROM HER FATHER, A FIRST GENERATION AMERICAN OF SERBIAN DECENT. >> HE WENT FROM PEDALING RAZOR BLADES TO THE PRESIDENT OF GILLETTE, NORTH AMERICA. THAT’S OUR COUNTRY. IT OFFERS OPPORTUNITY. >> AND YET, IT WAS HER FATHER WHO ALMOST DIDN’T LET HER GO TO COLLEGE. >> IT WAS A DIFFERENT TIME. HE JUST DIDN’T SEE ANY POINT TO IT. I SAID TO HIM, DAD, GIRLS GO TO SCHOOL NOW. >> SO WHAT CHANGED HIS MIND? >> MY GODFATHER. GOD BLESS MY GODFATHER. HE HAD A DAUGHTER EXACTLY MY AGE AND HE SAID WHERE IS NATALIE GOING TO SCHOOL? MY FATHER SAID MAYBE WE SHOULD RECONSIDER THIS ISSUE OF YOU GOING TO SCHOOL AND I SAID, REALLY DAD? I WAS SO ANGRY WITH HIM. IT’S TOO LATE. IT’S APRIL OF MY SENIOR YEAR. I DON’T NEED YOUR HELP, I’LL GET A JOB, I’LL PUT MYSELF THROUGH SCHOOL. I’LL BE JUST FINE. WELL, ONCE I GOT OFF MY HIGH HORSE, AND DECIDED MAYBE A LITTLE HELP ON THE TUITION MIGHT BE HELPFUL IT JUST HAPPENED THAT SOMEONE AT UNH APPLIED HERE MUST HAVE TURNED DOWN THEIR INVITATION AND THEY HAD A SPOT. AND I TOOK IT. YOU KNOW AS A KID WHO GREW UP IN THE CITY OF CHICAGO, SMACK IN THE CITY, TO BE ABLE TO COME TO A PLACE LIKE THIS, OH WHAT A GIFT. MY DORM, THE HITCHCOCK HALL, WAS RIGHT BACK HERE SOMEWHERE. ♪ MY SOPHOMORE YEAR WAS RIGHT IN THIS ROOM RIGHT HERE. AND I REMEMBER MY ROOMMATE AND I SNUCK OUT ONE TIME AFTER HOURS, THEY DID NOT FIND US. AND BECAUSE OF THE CURFEW AFTER YOUR DATE THERE WOULD BE 100 PEOPLE OUT HERE HUG HUG, SMOOCH SMOOCH SO CRAZY. [LAUGHTER] >> AS A STUDENT, NATALIE DID FRESHMAN CAMP, JOINED A SORORITY, WAS A CHEERLEADER. >> OUR MISSION WAS TO MAKE FRESHMEN FEEL COMFORTABLE. SO WE’D WANDER AROUND, GIVE PEOPLE DIRECTIONS, HELP THEM WITH SIGNING UP FOR CLASSES. I LOVED IT. IT WAS BEING AN AMBASSADOR FOR THE SCHOOL. >> IN 1990, SHE RETURNED TO DELIVER THE COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS. SHE ATTENDS ALUMNI EVENTS, AND SITS ON ONE OF THE UNIVERSITY’S BOARDS. >> YOUR SCHOOL NEVER LEAVES YOU, IT’S PART OF YOU YOU NOW. >> -- YOU KNOW? >> SHE ADMITS THAT SHE WAS NEVER COMFORTABLE WITH THE PUBLIC PART OF HER JOB. BUT IN HER BOOK, SHE OPENS UP ABOUT EVENTS IN HER PRIVATE LIFE THAT GAVE HER A NEW PERSPECTIVE. >> BUT THEN WITH THE DEATH OF MY MOTHER, THEN THE BIRTH OF MY DAUGHTER, AND BEING THIS HUGE -- HUGELY PREGNANT WOMAN ON TELEVISION AND HAVING PEOPLE BE THERE FOR ME, I GOT OVER IT. AND I JUST REALIZED WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER. I’M IN THE BEST JOB IN THE WORLD. LOOK HOW KIND PEOPLE ARE. IT WAS A PIVOTAL MOMENT AND IT MADE ME APPRECIATE EVERYTHING MORE THAN I EVER HAD. >> NOW RETIRED, FAMILY IS THE FOCUS. >> WHAT DO YOU CALL YOURSELF AS A SERBIAN GRANDMOTHER? >> OH THE SERBIAN WORD FOR GRANDMOTHER IS BUBBA SO I’M BUBBA. MY DAUGHTER AND HER CHILDREN, NOW 4 AND 6, ARE MY WHOLE LIFE. >> SHE’S NOW WORKING ON THE NEXT CHAPTER TO HER STORY. YOU SAY YOU’RE NOT DONE YET. >> I’M NOT DONE YET. I’M TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT MY NEXT MOVE IS. [LAUGHTER] ♪