826LA in Echo Park is fortunate to be working with seven amazing interns this fall. Interns do a ton of work both seen and unseen: from talking with prospective volunteers to leading tutoring sessions, interns are a truly vital part of the 826LA team, and we’re so proud to have these folks in our labs and offices this fall.

Learn more about our fall interns below and say hi to them next time you’re in Echo Park!

Abbey Roth was raised on coffee and stormy weather in the Pacific Northwest and is a reluctant, yet appreciative, transplant to Southern California. She arrived in Los Angeles just over five years ago to attend Occidental College, where she majored Critical Theory and Social Justice. This means she has read (and enjoyed) a lot of Lacan, and cares a lot about the struggle to preserve and improve public education. After graduating, she had the opportunity to work with the Los Angeles School Board as a policy analyst focusing on youth voice in policymaking and charter schools. She has also worked as a tutor, camp counselor, and law clerk, and she hopes to always work with educators and students in some capacity–some day as a social worker. It does not bother her that she is predictable in her appreciation of yoga, reading and coffee drinking.

Alexis Cruz is currently a junior at California State University, Northridge, where he will be majoring in Business Law with a minor in English Writing and Rhetoric. He says this with great pride because Alexis is a first-generation student who did not come from the best of backgrounds. Certain things he experienced throughout life could have stopped him from being where he is now, but they did not. These experiences have shaped him into who he is and, most importantly, into who he wants to become. This is a huge part of why he feels that interning at 826LA is extremely rewarding. When he is able to help the students that come to this program, Alexis hopes that he is ultimately helping those children open doors for themselves as they grow up. He also hopes to use his background and what he is accomplishing now to help them realize that anything is possible with the help of a little motivation and persistence.

Carolina Nolasco was born and raised in the big city of Los Angeles. She has recently graduated from California State University, Northridge, with a B.A. in English, concentrating in Creative Writing. She hopes to use that degree to someday write a book or two, many plays, maybe even invent a new poetic form. She also wants to spread her love for reading and writing to the world and has come to intern at 826LA in hopes of jumpstarting that dream. She is a lover of animals, especially the ones that don’t bite. Carolina is also an avid outdoorswoman, her most awesome adventures consisting of backpacking Big Sur and canoeing in Black Canyon.

Darlene Espinoza is a local resident of East Los Angeles. Living in L.A. all her life, she attended California State University, Los Angeles, and earned her bachelor’s in English with an option in Single Subject Credential. She enjoys tutoring students and helping them gain their full potential. She likes to add to her overflowing book shelf and attending concerts. The first concert she attended was Mariah Carey’s “Rainbow” tour, and from then on she has loved attending live shows. Her favorite sport is hockey and she dreams of one day meeting Anze Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings. Darlene is very excited for this new chapter in her life and looks forward to interning at 826LA.

Mario Macias, Jr. grew up in the Northeast Los Angeles area of Highland Park, California. He is the oldest of three (he has younger brother who just turned 21 and a younger sister who is 19), and is first in his family from both his mother’s and father’s side to successfully receive a B..A and an M.A. Mario attended Benjamin Franklin High School, where he graduated in 2005; from there he attended Glendale Community College (GCC). After two years at GCC, Mario transferred to Occidental College, where he received his Bachelor’s of Art degree in Sociology in 2011. Soon after, Mario attended California State University, San Marcos, where he received his M.A. in Sociological Practice earlier this spring. Mario has also volunteered helping 826LA high school students construct their personal statements for college. Lastly, Mario is involved in 826LA Echo Park Programs Coordinator Andrea Zúñiga’s workshop with parents and children taking place in a couple months. Mario is extremely excited about the opportunity to work at 826LA in Echo Park.

Natalie Dunn comes from a large family in New Mexico–having grown up in the in-betweens of desert and mountains, she has a predilection for waterless landscapes. She studied Cultural Anthropology and Creative Writing at Pitzer College, where she conducted research on widows in Nepal and published a collection of oral and written histories on her family of artists in Santa Fe, New Mexico. As a sound editor and co-founder of 826LA’s PoemBooth in Mar Vista, she has been listening to the students’ responses to poetic prompts over a receiver and compiling them to fit into collective pieces based on recrudescent themes for about a year now. She says that by listening and contributing to the PoemBooth, it’s like sharing secrets with someone you’ll never meet. Natalie will put salt on anything, loves any kind of cured meat, and is an expert people watcher. When she’s not at 826LA, you can find her throwing misshapen pots, climbing rocks, dreaming of baby goats, and writing and reading poetry on the edges of Echo Park lake.

Shelby DeWeese moved from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Los Angeles three years ago to attend USC. She is now entering her senior year as a Narrative Studies and Creative Writing double major with a double minor in Psychology and Nonprofits, Philanthropy, and Volunteerism. Besides volunteering (and now interning!) at 826LA, Shelby spends her non-class time working for the Daily Trojan newspaper, editing two literary magazines, playing board games with friends, watching teen dramas from the ’90s and early ’00s on Netflix, and writing poetry.

Want to intern at 826LA? Learn more here.