Liberty Champion Alum Turn Storytelling Passions Into Thriving Career

Raised just outside of Baltimore in a small town called Westminster, Sarah Rodriguez developed a passion for sports writing and storytelling in high school. She knew she wanted to pursue this as a career.

“I had looked at several schools,” Rodriguez, (LU ‘17 and ‘19), said. “Ultimately, God led me to Liberty.”

She came to Liberty to pursue her goal of becoming a sports reporter. She wanted to achieve this by majoring in journalism, along with minors in psychology and Spanish to round things out.

During her time at the school, she was involved in the Liberty Champion practicum. As a sophomore, she was a reporter for the sports section of the paper.

Then as a junior, she applied for a position at the Champion and was hired as the news editor.

“My position as news editor took place during my junior year,” Rodriguez said. “This was also an election year which made for a good way to gain experience.”

For her senior year, she was promoted to editor-in-chief. After she graduated, she continued her education in strategic communications, earning a master’s degree from Liberty. During those two years, she continued to work with the Liberty Champion as a graduate assitstant.

During her time working for the student led newspaper, Rodriguez felt God tug at her heart as she began to get involved with Samaritan’s Purse, where she currently works. She first became involved with the organization after finishing her undergraduate degree.

“I began my first internship with Samaritan’s Purse in 2017,” Rodriguez said. “I felt God leading me away from my dream of being a sport’s reporter for the moment. I took the opportunity to be a communications intern for the organization in Haiti that summer.”

This position in Haiti took place at the Greta Home and Academy, a Samaritan’s purse orphanage. As the communications intern, Rodriguez did content writing, photography and social media posts for the home’s website.

Rodriguez returned to Samaritan’s Purse the following year as a social media intern at their headquarters based in North Carolina. She worked with multiple social media teams which helped her develop her skills even further.

“When I graduated with my master’s in 2019, I applied for multiple jobs including the one I had interned for in North Carolina with Samaritan’s Purse and got the job,” Rodriguez said.

She continued, “Through different programs like Global Focus week, Liberty helped me learn more about Samaritan’s Purse. I had the opportunity to meet multiple people from the organization and find out how what I was studying fits into their organization.”

Combining her skills in media communications and journalism, Rodriguez has been able to use her passions at Samaritan’s Purse. She currently works as a social media specialist at their International Headquarters in Blowing Rock, North Carolina.

“During my time at the Champion, I gained and strengthened my journalistic skills in writing and interviewing,” Rodriguez said. “Though I may not do those exact things everyday now, I still use those skills with writing and creating stories every day as a social media manager.”

Daniel Ellis is a Feature Reporter. Follow him on Twitter at @dnaieltyler.