Student Stories

Near the end of my college career, I was lucky enough to land an internship here at Lookout Santa Cruz. Now that my internship is coming to a close and I gear up for graduation, I wanted to look back and share what I learned over my year here at Lookout. My internship was incredibly interesting, productive, and frankly quite life-changing. As I learned basic skills in the newsroom, I learned to take my work more seriously and had the opportunity to do one of the things I love:write. Along the way, I interviewed staff members and learned more about journalism, their careers and their lives. Here are my top takeaways.

Cal State Monterey Bay student Acucar “Sookie” Ramos writes about her experience at the 2026 Youth & Adult Partnership Summit at Cabrillo College, where youth leaders, educators and community partners explored what it means to build authentic youth-adult partnerships. Reflecting on conversations with fellow participants, Ramos argues that young people should be treated as true collaborators in shaping their communities and that meaningful change happens when adults are willing to listen, adapt and create spaces where youth voices can lead.

UC Santa Cruz student, Ava Salinas, writes about her experience as an intern at Lookout Santa Cruz

UC Santa Cruz student, Galicia Stack Lozano, writes about her experience as an intern at Lookout Santa Cruz

UC Santa Cruz student, Ashley Palma-Jimenez, writes about her experience as an intern at Lookout Santa Cruz