Part of our team’s passion for journalism extends to making sure that we do our part to help inspire the next generation of journalists. This summer, the MND team had two students working with us in our San Miguel office — Jared and Zella. The two have completely different life experiences, different personalities and different passions, so it was fun to have them both on the team.
Jared grew up in the Chicago area and is about to start his senior year at the University of Washington in Seattle. He is a journalism major and is passionate about sports journalism. Although he had been to Europe several times with his family, he had never been to Mexico. Despite having taken five years of Spanish in school, his speaking skills were quite “rusty” (to put it mildly). Jared is very much a self-proclaimed introvert.
Zella was born in Manhattan and moved to San Miguel with her family when she was six months old. She then lived in SMA until she was 15 years old, though her freshman year in high school. For the final three years of high school, she is going to a boarding school in California (her parents still live in SMA). For her upcoming senior year, Zella will be the editor-in-chief of her high school paper. She is completely bilingual and very extroverted.
As many people on our team do not have children, it presented an interesting opportunity for us to work with two kids at different phases of their “journalism journey.” At some points this summer, our office in San Miguel had team members aged 17, 21, 27, 28 and 32 (my wife’s and my ages are confidential!). The following is a list of what I learned from our two interns this summer, offered less as a verdict on them and more as a snapshot of the moment their generation is navigating.
1. Artificial intelligence presents a real dilemma for them. On one hand, they see how easy it can make their life, yet on the other hand, they also realize that it can make them overly dependent on it and lazy. It’s like the ultimate superpower, but at the same time you know it carries real risks. We made it clear to them that at MND we would allow zero AI in their writing, but that it is perfectly fine to use for research purposes.
2. Neither one of them wanted to think too much about what AI could do to the journalism profession, the news industry or their career prospects in general. It was refreshing, albeit somewhat concerning, to see them so … naive? In denial? Innocent? … about what AI could mean for them in the future. They didn’t really want to talk about it, so I didn’t push it much.
3. It’s troubling to see how few actual books they read. TikTok or Instagram videos are the new version of reading. Which, of course, is concerning. This isn’t unique to Jared and Zella — it reflects a broader shift in how information is consumed across most of their peer group.
I asked Jared when he last read a non-fiction book, to which he replied, “I don’t think I ever have read one.” So I promptly gave him two books to read: The first was “The Last Emperor of Mexico” by Edward Shawcross, a great book about Maximilian and a fascinating part of Mexican history. He loved it. The second was “Comfort Crisis” by Michael Easter, which is about the mental and physical health benefits of embracing discomfort. I have written previously about how important I think embracing discomfort is, and how important it was to me as I studied abroad years ago. I also see the benefits in it from my wife’s journey to the U.S. from India, as well as from many other immigrants. I don’t think he appreciated the book yet — these things sometimes take time to land — but I find it very unfortunate that many in society seem to be somewhat giving up on expecting kids to read books, especially non-fiction. That is not a good trend.
4. It was fascinating to see how both interns’ faces literally lit up when they were writing. For both of them, writing is clearly a “happy place.” I loved seeing that. I truly believe that writing is a wonderful demonstration of comprehension, communication and logic. If someone is unable to put something in writing, they likely will not be able to communicate it well. And if someone relies too much on AI to do the writing, they likely haven’t comprehended much. Both interns loved writing, loved putting their thoughts into the written word. Seeing this made me equally happy and saddened. Happy to see the passion stirred up in them. Sad to think about how quickly our society is seemingly deprioritizing the importance of reading and writing — crucial tools to create a generation of young people who are well-informed and can intelligently communicate their thoughts and ideas. It left me wondering: Who will read the great writings of this new generation of journalists?
5. American parents and administrators: Relax!! I was shocked at the monitoring, tracking, guiding and checking in that Jared seemed to be subject to. Zella’s parents, having lived in Mexico for years, were much more chill. Just a generation ago, a study abroad experience was a true adventure — a chance to get uncomfortable and disconnect from family, friends and authority. Every family navigates this differently, and there are good reasons parents stay closely connected today that didn’t exist a generation ago. Still, it’s worth asking whether some of today’s students are being given less room than earlier generations had to grow through that kind of independence.
We look forward to welcoming interns again next summer, giving them a chance to learn from our team — and giving us a chance to learn from them.
Travis Bembenek is the CEO of Mexico News Daily and has been living, working or playing in Mexico for nearly 30 years.
