School of Journalism welcomes new intern from Mexico's largest university

The University of Arizona School of Journalism welcomed Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) student Mario Sosa as an intern this fall through a partnership with UNAM’s Tucson office. 

Sosa, who grew up in Mexico City, is majoring in communication and is one of four UNAM students who started internships on the UArizona campus in October. 

As part of his internship, Sosa has been working with School of Journalism Director Jessica Retis on research projects, visiting journalism classes, and helping organize school events.

“We are very excited to have Mario working with us for the next few months and it’s a great opportunity to strengthen the School of Journalism’s collaboration with UNAM-Tucson,” Retis said. 

During his first few months as an intern, Sosa also worked closely with students in Professor Liliana Soto’s border reporting class to produce a multimedia project titled “Beyond the Wall: A Journey Between Life and Death,” which featured a website, a documentary, several news articles, and a podcast. 

Sosa, who speaks Spanish, English and some German, said the school’s bilingual journalism program piqued his interest when he arrived.

“I really like this environment and being able not to just engage with people from America, but also people from other cultures and international students,” Sosa said. 

Catalina Stern Forgach, director of UNAM-Tucson, has overseen the local UNAM exchange program since it began three years ago and says the international experience it provides students is “very important.”

“It’s a great program and I think all universities should have a program like it,” Forgach said. “It’s different than just coming to take classes for a semester. With this, [students’] interests are well-defined.

Students who come to the university from UNAM each semester are given several options based on what they would like to study, including journalism, business, art, science and agriculture, Forgach said. 

After completing his traditional coursework at UNAM, Sosa was required to complete a six-month period of social service and now must produce an undergraduate thesis or report based on his experiences during the six months he spends in Arizona.

Once Sosa’s internship ends in the spring, he plans on pursuing a Master’s degree in journalism and hopes to work as a multimedia journalist in the future.