SPEL participants from around the country wrap up another impactful semester
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Jessica Mendez-Perez, a high school junior in Washington, D.C., and Ceciliana Rolón Bou, a college student in Puerto Rico, both interned at Hola Cultura this fall. But they took different paths to get there.
Jessica learned about Hola Cultura’s Storytelling Program for Experimental Learning (SPEL) through a counselor at her school, Calvin Coolidge High School. Before joining Hola Cultura’s internship program, Jessica had no prior experience in journalism.
Ceciliana, a senior at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras, first heard about Hola Cultura through an online job posting. She thought it would be a significant opportunity for her to gain field experience in social media and graphic design.
“Before this, I didn’t know anything about Hola Cultura, so I was really excited to be a part of something that elevates our culture,” Ceciliana said
SPEL is an opportunity for college students, young graduates and high school students to begin their journey or expand their skills in journalism and storytelling. Led by investigative reporter Christine MacDonald, executive director and co-founder of Hola Cultura, interns and fellows from D.C. and around the country have the opportunity to collaborate through weekly online meetings discussing journalistic ethics and principles and working on stories published weekly on HolaCultura.com.
These meetings also provide participants with opportunities to develop stories, interview sources and learn from guest speakers with various professional backgrounds. Based in Washington, D.C., with a new office in Boston, Hola Cultura is not only a publication where writers can publish articles; it’s one where young journalists can make lifelong connections.
Each intern is a part of one team, or beat, which defines the overarching themes and categories of their stories: arts and humanities, society and culture, social media and copy editing.
Intern on the arts and humanities team
Jessica is a member of the arts and humanities team, which writes about local artists, writers and other creative Latines.
“When I heard about arts and humanities, I thought that would be a bit easier for me to go through because I have more experience in the concept of arts and humanities, more than any other of the areas that were presented at the time,” Jessica said.
Jessica said that this was her first internship and that Christine helped her navigate the process.
“She also helped me with my interview, since I originally was having issues with trying to figure out who to get through and who I wanted to interview in the first place. She was actually the one who gave me suggestions,” Jessica said. “She also kind of helped me understand certain concepts with the writing skills.”
Jessica interviewed Marie Moll Amego, a program manager at Latin American Youth Center, for an upcoming story that will delve into youth empowerment in D.C. through muralism, storytelling and activism.
Intern on the social media team
Ceciliana, a SPEL social media intern this fall, is studying graphic design at the University of Sagrado Corazón while pursuing a bachelor’s degree in secondary Spanish education at the University of Puerto Rico.
Ceciliana found her love for digital art after being diagnosed with depression. She said she found social media to be a place where she could share her art, awareness and positivity.
“Sometimes we pause to embrace how people see us from their perspective,” Ceciliana said. “So I wanted to do social media, but without filters, so I started graphic design.”
That’s when she decided to start taking classes in graphic design, which led her to SPEL.
Ceciliana gained professional experience this fall working on a project called “Meet the SPEL intern.” It comprised portraits of team members accompanied by short blog posts, so readers could get to know the program’s team on a more personal level.
“When I started, I thought I was going to be working with younger people, but then it was people my age. That should be inspiring,” Ceciliana said. “This generation is inspired to help this community evolve.”
– Story by Sofia Cortés
– Copy edited by Kami Waller
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