As this school year and my internship at Lookout Santa Cruz comes to a close, I’ve been reflecting on the incredible journey it has been. Working as a Community Engagement Intern, I have been able to expand my sense of community within Santa Cruz, gain real-life experience in an office setting and more. I am so grateful for all of my time, connections and opportunities that I have been given at Lookout and will take what I have learned with me into future jobs and work experiences.
When I first began at Lookout Santa Cruz, I hadn’t had much work experience in an office setting, having spent past internships doing remote work or in other sorts of spaces. Because of this, I entered Lookout a bit anxious about communicating with co-workers and advocating for help when I was confused on assignments. As I progressed in my internship and collaborated more with my co-workers, I grew more confident in my own abilities and learned how to ask for clarification when I needed it.
At Lookout, I had the chance to participate in projects and to help organize events it facilitated throughout the year. I joined Lookout in its fifth year as a Santa Cruz County news site, and therefore many of my projects centered around highlighting the work that Lookout has done for the community over the years. In the fall quarter, at the start of my internship, I created a five-year timeline of Lookout’s history. As a history major, I enjoyed getting to comb through the different projects and stories that Lookout has published. This project allowed me to learn about Santa Cruz County and situate myself in a place that I was still growing familiar with as a sophomore in college. I compiled the timeline into posters and was given the opportunity to write an article about my experience creating the timeline: Telling Lookout Santa Cruz’s story — and finding my own place in it. At the end of the project, I displayed my timeline posters in Lookout’s newsroom, leaving my mark on the office space.
In the winter quarter, I worked on the HERStory project, collaborating with the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History to create visuals for its annual event honoring the women changemakers of Santa Cruz. For each woman who was nominated, representing the past, present and future of Santa Cruz, I made a poster including descriptions of each awardee and their achievements. I was inspired by the work that these women were doing across the county and feel extremely proud and grateful to have been a part of this celebration and honoring of these women. Attending the event at the MAH, which was full of community pride and happiness, and seeing my work displayed was an amazing experience.
Wrapping up my internship in the spring quarter, I focused on creating election materials, infographics and images for candidate forums hosted by Lookout. I especially enjoyed getting information translated into Spanish, using my bilingual skills to create material for the first Watsonville election event hosted by Lookout. Throughout this process, I was able to better get to know Santa Cruz County’s political climate. I also crafted an impact report to showcase Lookout’s work and hopes for its future. Getting to conclude my internship with this work was very rewarding and motivating.
My time at Lookout Santa Cruz was special and allowed me to work on multiple projects. I gained many skills that I will take with me into future employment as well as a strong sense of pride in my new home and community connection.
Galicia Stack Lozano is a student at UC Santa Cruz and an intern at Lookout Santa Cruz through the Humanities EXCEL program led by the UC Santa Cruz Humanities Division with strategic support from The Humanities Institute
