CV

About me

Hi! I'm Camelia Heins (she/her), an undergraduate student majoring in English and Political Science at the University of California, Irvine. I am passionate about journalism, writing, politics, activism, art, and photography. As a student journalist, I have published 60+ articles with several publications including New University, Her Campus, LA Time's HS Insider, and Baron News. As a student activist, I was involved with Diversify Our Narrative in high school and I'm active in UCI's Pilipino community, previously serving as the Community & Political Affairs Chair at Kababayan at UCI. 

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My love for writing began as a child and it has been my passion ever since. I began my journey into journalism in high school, serving as a Staff Writer and Photographer for my school's newspaper, Baron News. Working in a team environment with fellow writers, photographers, and editors to provide factual news and genuine profiles on student lifestyle to the local community ignited my love for journalism. As a senior, I continued my passion by serving as the Opinion Editor. My responsibilities included editing articles on a weekly basis, providing workshops for my writers, and publishing detailed editorials amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the Huntington Beach Union High School District (HBUHSD), along with writing my own articles. 

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Aside from my work as a student journalist, I delved into student activism in high school through Diversify Our Narrative, an organization dedicated toward increasing diverse texts in classrooms. As one of the first students to build the HBUHSD chapter, I served as a Director of Social Media. I managed 3 social media accounts across several platforms (Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook) with 500+ followers and 10,000+ impressions reached. Through our "Fact Check Friday" series, weekly posts included researched infographics on topics about diversity in education. Outside of social media, the campaign consisted of outreach to members of the community and faculty within the district for support as we presented the pressing need for representation in classroom texts to the HBUHSD Board of Trustees. Our work was featured in an article by Vox. 

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After a difficult one-and-a-half years online in high school due to the pandemic, I embarked on my college experience at UC Irvine as a Political Science major, later adding on the English double major. During my first year, I accepted a position as an Opinion Intern for UCI's newspaper, New University. The internship consisted of a 10-week program resulting in 1 article a week and a final project. After the internship, I continued as an Opinion Staff Writer. My articles varied on topics like media representation to colonial mentality and amassed over 10,000+ views. Additionally, I served as a Staff Writer for the UCI Chapter of Her Campus, a media publication catered toward college women. 

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At UCI, I became very involved in the Pilipino community on campus, specifically Kababayan at UCI, the largest Pilipinx American student organization on campus and one of the largest in the nation. During my first year, I became a Spring Intern under the Cultural and Community & Political Affairs positions. Under this 10-week internship, I gained public speaking skills in front of large crowds and worked collaboratively on weekly meetings. Additionally, I facilitated discussions about the Pilipinx culture and identity.

Following my spring internship, I accepted the position as Community & Political Affairs (CPA) Chair for the 2022-2023 school year. I put in an average of 24+ hours a week planning events that open discussion toward topics on the Pilipino identity and community, researched and created weekly infographics that educated students on socio-political issues in the Philippines and around the world, and hosted general meetings that contributed to building UCI's Pilipino community. Additionally, as CPA Chair, I collaborated with organizations across California and UCI, both Pilipino and non-Pilipino, to increase cross-cultural solidarity in our community.