Spring SPEL participants finish their semester!
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At the final session of Hola Cultura’s Spring Storytelling Program for Experiential Learning (SPEL) on April 29, nearly two dozen interns and fellows took turns reflecting on projects and stories they developed during the semester and sharing their experiences that shaped their time in the program. The virtual meeting concluded with a friendly trivia game, testing the SPEL team’s knowledge of topics discussed throughout the semester—from the values of ethical journalism to insights about graduate school.
The team made up of D.C. high school students and college-aged interns in D.C., Boston and around the country began their online collaborations on Feb. 3, working across five fellow-led teams: arts and humanities, society and culture, oral history, social media and copy editing. They conducted interviews, transformed pitches into stories and worked closely with editors.
Oral History Team
Marvin Juarez, a fifth-year creative writing and film and digital media major at the University of California, Davis, joined Hola Cultura’s oral history team this semester. For Juarez, the most rewarding part wasn’t just writing stories — it was witnessing his family’s reaction to his published work.
“My mom and dad are proud to have a writer and quickly shared my story with the rest of my family,” Juarez said.
Juarez leaves future interns with one piece of advice, take time while crafting your story and pay attention to details that make your story come alive. “It may be mentally or physically taxing, but it goes a long way,” he said.
Juarez credits the SPEL program with providing him skills that he can carry into future storytelling projects.
“I learned that I shouldn’t be afraid of participating or voicing my concerns and to be aware of my time and not rush things,” Juarez said.
This spring Juarez wrote an opinion piece about Bad Bunny’s performance at the 2026 Super Bowl. Despite the quick two-day turnaround, he described the writing process as a fun challenge. Juarez’s second story of the semester is a feature piece on Boston-based composer Andrés Ballesteros and how he is striving to combine his passion for music and creating social change through his work with local youth.
Each semester, Professional Development Night features a discussion with communication professionals who share their stories and advice. This spring, the guests included Luisa Suarez, the first Collective Fellow at Tiny News Collective, an organization that helps support emerging news companies, including Hola Cultura, which joined the collective last year. Two former SPEL interns also attended: Melissa Perez-Carrillo, who now reports for Spotlight PA, an investigative journalism newsroom; and Rosa Hernández, now a current external affairs and communications consultant at the Inter-American Development Bank.
Another highlight of the semester was a discussion with Mariana Sanchez-Santos, an AI researcher at Spotify, who visited SPEL earlier in the semester to discuss how AI intersects with the freedom of expression.
Through these conversations, interns and fellows gained insight and inspiring examples of former SPEL interns who have built successful careers.
Copy Editing Team
Kami Waller, a writer and editor who earned a doctoral degree in global art practice from Tokyo University of the Arts, concluded their copy editing fellowship this spring after being part of the team for more than a year. Beyond the editing, Waller enjoyed mentoring interns and discovering new stories along the way.
“I have been doing copy editing for a long time, and I like getting to work on different stories from many different writers, each focusing on different topics,” Waller said. “It’s nice knowing that I’m contributing to an organization whose mission I believe in.” Waller also values the people he works with just as much as the work he’s doing.
“SPEL has provided me with a very strong sense of community and meaning in my life. I like knowing whose faces I’m going to see every week and the way we all work towards a common goal,” Waller said. “It’s a special environment with a special group of people.”
And just like that, the 2026 spring semester of SPEL has come to a close. While our interns and fellows have said their goodbyes, their pieces are still being polished for publication, so keep an eye out for new stories. A heartfelt thank you to all the guest speakers, interns, fellows and everyone involved in making these stories come to life.
– Story by Melody Marichalar
– Copy Edited by Valerie Izquierdo
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