One of the benefits of writing for the Tucson Weekly is working with a new group of interns every semester. Last year, working with UA journalism senior Noelle Haro-Gomez was, well, like working with family. I've gotten to know other interns over the years and watched them go on to do amazing work for us and other publications. However, Haro-Gomez is one of those students who is a hard worker in and out of the classroom, so it's easy to share her GoFundMe campaign with you.

Haro-Gomez was recently accepted to take part in the VII Student Program in Cambodia this summer. Led by VII photojournalists Gary Knight and Anastasia Taylor-Lind, the program will provide Haro-Gomez with an experience that will undoubtedly shape her life and work to come. She should be proud that she got accepted, but paying for this experience is another challenge altogether.

Haro-Gomez deserves whatever support you can throw her way. I've watched this young woman work her tail off in the classroom, then hustle during her internships with us and the Arizona Daily Star and hustle for every freelance opportunity she could get. At the same time, she's been working as a food server for a local restaurant to pay her school tuition, rent and living expenses. Right now she's in Pennsylvania, working as an intern photographer for the Public Opinion, the daily in Chambersburg, Penn. (Her boss at the local establishment where she serves food loves her so much they told her she has her job when she get's back from Pennsylvania and I'm sure they will tell her the same when she heads off to Cambodia. To me, that demonstrates what a hard worker she is.)

From Haro-Gomez's GoFundMe page:

The program is an intensive immersion in photography specifically for college students. This will help me make an advance in my photography and storytelling skills to identify, research and document meaningful stories.

This program starts June 24 — July 8, 2014. We will be taking parts in meetings and talks with community leaders—journalists, photographers and NGO workers—who are tackling the big issues that face the country today.

At the end of the program I will return home with an edited portfolio and personal journal from this and my work will also be posted on my website.

Haro-Gomez needs to raise $4,665 for the trip and program fees. So far she's raised $1,495. I get paid on Wednesday and will be throwing some eagles her way. I hope you can, too.