Savannah Vela’s mother has a saying for her daughter’s eagerness to learn, explore and take on almost anything: “Te quieres comer el mundo.” (“You want to devour the world.”)
This summer, the 18-year-old Indio native is bringing that curiosity to The Desert Sun as its visual and media intern.
Vela recently completed her first year at the University of California, Davis, where she studies political science and communication. But her interest in the fields of journalism and public policy began closer to home at Shadow Hills High School.
One of her first assignments in the school’s journalism class was to profile the librarian. Even though it was only a class exercise, she valued the opportunity to sit down with someone she had previously known in passing, learn more about her life and find a way to share her story. By her senior year, Vela became editor-in-chief of the Knight Times, the school’s newspaper.
She served on youth advisory councils in Indio and Riverside County. She also led her school’s Interact Club, a Rotary-sponsored group that organizes community projects and develops young leaders. Vela took Rotary’s motto — “service about self” — to heart, and it continues to guide her work in the community.
“Everything I try to do is just try to make someone else’s space just a bit better and just a bit greater,” she said.
Vela’s interest in public policy began when she worked with the American Cancer Society through Interact Club to support a smoke-free ordinance in Indio.
“I fell in love with creating a change,” Vela said.
For several months during her first year at UC Davis, she commuted to the state capitol, where she interned in the office of Assemblymember Jeff Gonzalez, who represents District 36 — which includes Indio and other parts of the eastern Coachella Valley.
It was an experience that allowed Vela to connect policy with the kind of storytelling she hopes to produce this summer. She wrote newsletters, social media posts and press releases and helped with legislative research. She also assisted with launching the assemblymember’s TikTok account, producing short videos that grew the account to more than 300 followers in less than four months.
“I want everyone to understand (the legislative process),” she said. “I want to be the person that can comprehend all this nitty-gritty stuff and make it just a bit easier for just one more person.”
At The Desert Sun, Vela plans to use video and social media to reach people who may not regularly read a traditional news story. She said newsrooms cannot ignore the growing number of people who turn to digital platforms for information.
“If we just stick to that, we’re leaving so many different readers and people out,” she said.
As an Indio native, Vela looks forward to bringing her local perspective to her work at The Desert Sun. The daughter of a father who immigrated from Mexico when he was about 5 and a mother who was also born and raised in Indio, she describes herself as a “second-and-a-half-generation Mexican American.”
Vela said she thinks often about what it means to be Chicana and Latina and from the Coachella Valley, as those parts of her identity push her to pay attention to who is represented and who is not.
“That’s always been the backbone of everything (I do),” she said. “How can I make sure my community and those parts of my identity are showcased?”
And she’ll use that perspective to guide the stories she wants to amplify this summer. To outsiders, the desert can seem like a retro getaway. But the valley, especially the eastern Coachella Valley, she said, has its own culture, and it’s one increasingly driven by young people.
“We have so many young leaders,” Vela said. “They’re just self-starters and they’re creating their own initiatives and their own opportunities.”
Outside of work, Vela plans to catch up on the reading she did not have time for during the school year. She has recently gravitated towards modern classics and writers from the Beat Generation. Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road” is near the top of her list. She also hopes to travel more in the years ahead, with Mongolia — where she wants to see wild horses — among the places she most wants to visit.
For now, Vela is eager to hear from residents across the Coachella Valley and to learn about the desert with a new perspective.
“I’m an open book,” she said. “Ask me anything. I have opinions on everything, so I am more than happy for a conversation.”
Readers can contact Vela at savannah.vela@desertsun.com.
Jennifer Cortez covers education in the Coachella Valley. Reach her at jennifer.cortez@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: The Desert Sun welcomes summer intern and Indio native Savannah Vela
Reporting by Jennifer Cortez, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jennifer Cortez, Palm Springs Desert Sun | USA TODAY Network
