My Service Project: La Voz Unida

For my service learning project I co-founded La Voz Unida, a new student-led publication on campus. Throughout the semester, my executive board and I worked endlessly on the logistics of starting this organization. We had to go through a long process to get university recognition, which included recruiting enough people, crafting a detailed constitution, and finding a faculty adviser. After we officially became an organization, we started advertising different positions such as staff writers, editors, copy editors, business staff, social media, and photographers. We reviewed several applications and we started interviewing potential candidates. We also finalized our website where we started posting content.

A big part of our publication is promoting inclusion and diversity. It was very important for me to revamp this newspaper because there hasn’t been an active Latinx publication on campus since 2015. In the past, the publication was called La Voz Latina and we decided to change the name to La Voz Unida which replaces “latina” for “united”. This change promotes diversity and inclusiveness, regardless of race and gender. Our overall purpose is to elevate marginalized voices on campus. Another long term goal is to create a community outreach with neighboring cities such as Langley Park and Riverdale. These communities are densely populated with Latinx residents. When covering these communities, we want to report both on the good and the bad. My number one priority as editor-in-chief is to serve the community through this publication and to make meaningful contributions through journalism.

Through my experience with La Voz Unida, I learned the importance of reporting and informing during the COVID-19 pandemic. In times of uncertainty, it's crucial to keep our communities informed. Our first article was published during the initial period of chaos on campus. It was about the food insecurity many students would face amidst the campus closure during the pandemic. La Voz Unida also created a page dedicated to the latest coverage of the COVID-19 in Maryland. The pages offered information in both English and Spanish.

I’ve grown tremendously as a person, student, and professional. I’ve been able to start platform on campus that initially I didn’t think was possible. The process to get university recognition was draining and exhausting. But after meeting all the requirements such as creating a constitution and finding an advisor, we were able to proceed with our publication. As co editor-in-chief, I've been able to apply my journalism skills by editing and always making sure our team follows the journalism code of ethics. In addition, I've been able to use my Spanish speaking and writing skills to bring information in two languages.

These images show the importance of using various forms of media to keep our communities informed. La Voz Unida made these graphics to list testing sites in the state of Maryland. The graphics include locations and any requirements these sites may have prior to getting tested. They also include symptoms of the novel virus. We made the graphics available both in Spanish and English.

Moving forward, I can apply my practicum experience in a real setting such as a newspaper or broadcast station. Experience in journalism is valuable because it strengthens the skills learned in a classroom setting. One of the skills I have learned thus far is AP style, which is something I've been working on when editing. AP Style is very different from traditional writing conventions and is important when writing in the journalism field. I’ve also been able to use my Spanish skills in a professional setting and it will help me in the long run because I want to be a bilingual journalist in the near future.

Plans for the future at UMD:

I want to continue informing the UMD community and neighboring cities through my publication.
Continue working with talented students at UMD and creating newsworthy content that people will benefit from.
I want to expand our digital presence and explore different platforms by adding a broadcast section and podcast.
Volunteer at local schools in PG County by providing journalism workshops to middle school students. I want to give at risk students a career option that they might enjoy as much as I do.

Plans for the future in my field of interest?

In the future, I want to work for a big Spanish-speaking broadcast company like Telemundo or Univision. I want to get more experience as a multi-platform reporter, but I ultimately want to be a news anchor.
In the future, I want to use my platform to continue informing communities with factual information and giving the voiceless a voice.