Spring into 2025 with Hola Cultura’s SPEL program!

Are you considering a career in journalism or communications? Do you want to improve your writing, teamwork and copy editing skills? If this sounds like you, applications are now being accepted for Hola Cultura’s Storytelling Program for Experiential Learning (SPEL) spring session, which runs from Jan. 28 – April 29 and brings together high school and college students from around the country to develop their skills in a fast-paced and learning-forward team setting.

SPEL interns come together for weekly story lab sessions on Tuesdays from 6:30-8 p.m. Eastern Time. Throughout the semester, interns collaborate with their teams, participate in hands-on training sessions and hear from professional guest speakers. Each team is led by an Hola Cultura fellow who acts as a mentor, serves as a resource and provides each intern with weekly story assignments and feedback on their work.   

“It’s so cool how this program gives you a platform to write about anything you’re passionate about. The mentorship from my fellow has been so helpful in building my professional writing abilities,” says Chioma Ukaobasi, a junior in high school at D.C.’s School Without Walls and an editorial intern on the Arts & Humanities team. 

Interns can choose from three different teams: the Arts & Humanities team, which reports on D.C. Latine culture and local writers and artists; the Society & Culture team, which focuses on immigration, climate justice and societal issues; and the Copy Editing team, which allows interns to develop their copy-editing skills on stories published to the Hola Cultura website. Interns are also welcome to explore their interests by collaborating with other teams during their internship semester! Fellows guide interns through story ideation, conducting interviews and writing. 

“My favorite part about SPEL was going over the style book and doing research on what to add or update for it. It was super interesting to look into the rules we have and don’t have to explain why we should keep or change something. It also makes a real difference that will hopefully help Hola Cultura [in the future],” shares an intern from our summer 2024 copy editing team in a feedback survey. 

If you’re looking for the opportunity to gain real-world professional experience that will help guide your career in journalism or communications, or if you would just like to improve your content creation and leadership skills, apply to be a part of our SPEL team today! The deadline to apply for our spring session is Dec. 2. 

High school students can apply via our online application form, available in both English and Spanish. College students and young adult volunteers can explore available opportunities on our Work With Us page. To be considered, please include your resume, cover letter and one to five writing samples. 

While we review applications, feel free to check out work from our past SPEL interns.

– Story by Matthew Macgugan

– Copy edited by Mariana Benitez Arreola and Michelle Benitez