The National Association of Hispanic Journalists’ South Florida Chapter awarded $1,250 summer scholarships to two Wolfson Campus students on the staff of The Reporter.
Keyra Mendoza and Samira Karieva are the fourth pair of students to be awarded the scholarship since its inauguration in 2023.
The scholarship is available to active members of The Reporter.
Applicants need to have a minimum 3.0 GPA, be enrolled in at least six credits at MDC, and complete two essays on the importance of journalism and their experience at paper.
Keyra Mendoza
Mendoza serves as a news writer for publication.
The 19-year-old journalism and mass communications major joined The Reporter this past fall. She has written about the Miami Film Festival, the Jack Kent Cook Undergraduate Scholarship and covered graduation.
Born in Peru, she immigrated to the United States when she was six-years-old. Her interest in journalism was sparked at Miami Beach Senior High School after she interviewed a Holocaust survivor for her world literature studies class.
“Journalism is a field all about experiences,” Mendoza said. “Winning this scholarship means a lot to me, I felt very validated in being recognized and I look forward to being able to use the financial support to help me with getting my degree.”
She aspires to be an entertainment journalist.
Samira Karieva
Karieva is a news writer; she was recently tabbed as the paper’s arts & entertainment editor.
The 19-year-old, a freshman majoring in journalism and mass communications at the Honors College, has written about a podcast affiliated to The Miami Animation & Gaming International Complex, the new Career Closet at Wolfson Campus and the Academy Awards.
”I joined the newspaper because I enjoy writing and I wanted to get better at it, while also learning important skills like how to communicate and lead a conversation,” Karieva said.
Born in New York and raised in Miami, she is of Uzbek descent. She graduated from Alonzo and Tracy Mourning Senior High School in 2025.
Her long-term goal is to work in the publishing industry.
