“What do we want? Democracy! When do we want it? Now!”
This was one of the first slogans I heard approaching the No Kings protest, the first event that my editor at Lookout Santa Cruz tasked me with covering. I could feel my heart pounding its way out of my chest. I had been interning here for a month and half; I thought, they must really trust me to let me cover something this big. I’ll never forget this moment – it was the first time I got to practice interviewing local residents, and I even got to speak to the event coordinator.
A month later, I got the opportunity to write a piece about the delay of CalFresh benefits for the month of November, and how that has affected UC Santa Cruz students who rely on them. Through this experience, I had the opportunity to practice the art of interviewing people, which provided me with insight into what matters most to Santa Cruzans. Some of the most notable people I got the chance to interview were Mayor Fred Keeley and Rep. Jimmy Panetta.
On top of doing editorial work, I also got the opportunity to help out with our community outreach. I helped out at one of Lookout’s 2026 election forums, where candidates running for mayor and city council spoke about some of Santa Cruz’s most pressing issues.
I really leveraged my communication skills in this role. Studying the humanities has helped me learn to share information clearly and thoughtfully, in an understandable, unbiased way. That skill became especially important when interviewing sources, writing stories and making complex local issues accessible to readers.
This summer, I will be attending the UC Center Sacramento program, where I will intern for a local organization such as Capitol Weekly or the governor’s office.
If you want to support work like this, one simple but meaningful action is to subscribe to local news outlets and stay engaged by reading local journalism. And if you’re a student at UCSC, you can get a subscription to Lookout Santa Cruz for free, so I encourage you to take advantage of this resource.
Ashley Palma-Jimenez 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.
