Name: Dana Dela Cruz
Title: News Intern
What are the most interesting or challenging stories you’ve worked on so far? I contributed reporting to a story about “low-risk” businesses reopening in Santa Barbara. It was a challenge interviewing owners during this difficult time, but I also got to hear firsthand how community-oriented the small businesses are here. I also wrote about forests adapting to climate change, which challenged me to translate complicated science terms into everyday language.
What writers or journalists do you admire? I love reading essays by Hanif Abdurraqib, Jia Tolentino, and Kat Chow — they write smartly and with honesty. For fiction and poetry, I admire Toni Morrison, Ocean Vuong, and Haruki Murakami.
What things are you most looking forward to doing when life returns to “normal”? I’m graduating from UCSB next month, so I’m looking forward to coming back here to visit once this is all over and getting one last (delayed) hurrah with my college friends. I also can’t wait to browse through bookstores again. This outbreak has made it hard to plan for the future, but hopefully I’ll be moving to New York City soon, too.