I am a Venezuelan journalist.
Buenas buenas!
Currently, I am reporting at The Washington Post’s General Assignment desk as part of the publication’s 2021 Summer Internship class, which means I cover a little bit of everything — truly, a "de todo" reporter.
While most of my work at The Post focuses on quick-turnaround daily stories, I have had the opportunity to delve in to longer-term, enterprise projects — like this story about post-Surfside evacuations in Miami-Dade County. I have also challenged myself to pursue topics I never had before.
For instance, what started as a daily about the Lava Fire torching through Northern California launched me into the team covering the national climate. Since then, I have written and pitched different stories, including this front-page one about the 2018 Camp Fire victims reliving their trauma as an inferno approached their new homes.
Since June, I have also written and contributed to dozens of stories that made national and international headlines — including the tragic Champlain Towers collapse, the ongoing pandemic coverage and Haiti's devastating earthquake.
In May 2021, I graduated from the University of Notre Dame with dual degrees in Political Science and Economics and a minor in Journalism, Ethics and Democracy.
As a student in the Gallivan Program in Journalism, Ethics and Democracy, I traveled to Puerto Rico to report on the aftermath of Hurricane Maria as part of the "Covering America" course's capstone project. For this class, I reported on how one school copes with the lingering effects of the storm, and also interviewed the Puerto Rican artist Samuel Lind.
On campus, I was a news writer for The Observer, the student-run, daily print and online newspaper serving Notre Dame, Saint Mary’s and Holy Cross. There, I also served as talent and inclusion director and podcast host for The Recap, the news department's weekly summary of major headlines.
From Aug. 2019 to March 2021, I was the lead social media strategist for The Observer's social media department. As part of the team, I created content to be shared in all our social profiles and led the "Tri-Campus Tuesday" initiative, which highlights inspiring and hopeful stories. Our efforts helped to double traffic from social media year-over-year.
In summer 2019, I was a reporting intern for the Miami Herald. My work was greatly focused on breaking news and real-time reporting for el Nuevo Herald, the Miami Herald Media Company's Spanish-language publication. During my internship I covered a broad spectrum of events, ranging from Puerto Ricans protesting against former Governor Ricardo Roselló to Fidel Castro's alligators biting a guest at a Swedish party. I also co-authored an investigative piece about Venezuelans seeking asylum at the US-Mexico border, which won second place in the News Reporting (Spanish Language) category of the Florida Society of News Editors' 2020 Journalism Contest.
I returned to the Miami Herald for a second time in summer 2020. My reporting focused on both local and national events, covering crime, the COVID-19 pandemic, the beginning of the 2020 hurricane season, and a number of protests. I also undertook a month-long enterprise project that examined the effects of the pandemic on Miami-Dade County’s homeless population, and worked on the production and recording of “El Noticierito,” el Nuevo’s daily news summary. My written and visual work enabled greater engagement with the newspapers and increased digital subscribers.
I understand journalism as a public service. In the future, I hope to someday give a voice to the voiceless and shed light to the issues that afflict our world by being "human first, journalist second" — a move that will allow me to encounter extraordinary stories and showcase society's complexities, challenges and accomplishments.
When I am not writing or looking for story ideas, you can find me hunting for the best cup of joe or attempting to learn a new language. Or maybe binge-watching reality TV-shows (my guilty pleasure).
I hope we can connect soon!
