Spring 2023 staff goodbyes
At the beginning of the Spring 2023 semester, the Liberty Champion hired me as the opinion editor. Now, I’m unfortunately but happily graduating from Liberty and leaving the Champion. Though a short period of my college career, working at the Champion has certainly been an experience that I will remember for a lifetime.
The office environment encouraged and challenged my writing for the better. Both Deborah Huff and Logan Smith provided the work atmosphere the staff needed to put out its best work. My fellow editors and I grew friendships that made the job fun and genuinely enjoyable.
I will miss looking forward to work. I will miss the jokes and laughs that followed. I will miss the recurring conversations about interesting topics for a coming issue. I will miss the collective desire to glorify God through a print newspaper. I could keep going, but nothing can sum up my time with the Champion better than this simple word: fruitful.
Offering many opportunities to grow in communication, the job sharpened skills and opened my eyes to new interests I never knew I had. More than these things, I was able to apply the content I had learned in classes to a real-world setting. Of course, the Champion isn’t like a real newsroom, but it is a great opportunity to understand what one would be like.
James Duvall III is the graduating opinion editor for the Liberty Champion. Follow him on Twitter
The only thing that stays the same in life is change. This is something I have been truly clinging to near the end of my time at the Champion. Every day at the office, I was given the opportunity to build relationships with some of the most talented and hard-working people I have ever met. It’s been an honor to see such gifted people at the beginning of their careers, and I really cannot wait to see where the friends I have made go in the future beyond the walls of the Champion office. To the people I’ve connected with, thank you for your support along the way.
Sarah Lechner is the graduating social media and web manager for the Liberty Champion. Follow her on Twitter
Thank you so much to the Champion staff for always making it a fun time to come to work! I always enjoyed my time working with everyone. Thank you, Mrs. Huff and Logan, for giving me this opportunity to use my creativity in connection with news. I was able to see my creative video and writing skills grow over my year working here, and I will always be grateful for that. Lastly, shout-out to Sarah Lechner for her work creating The Champion Chats podcast and allowing me to host with her! I had so much fun during every podcast and interview.
Anna Lunt is the graduating digital media producer for the Liberty Champion. Follow her on Twitter
Before I even stepped foot on Liberty’s campus, I was already working for the Champion.
A few months before my freshman year began, I signed up to be a sportswriter for CSER credit, and I was terrified. However, that first email I blindly sent to Mrs. Huff quickly turned into one of the best parts of my college experience.
Flash forward four years later, and I can’t begin to describe what this experience working at the Champion has meant to me. After countless memes, spontaneous mini-golf games, football rants, Cook Out runs, late-night conversations, movie debates, intense Catch Phrase competitions, chili nights, disappearing servers and “Phineas and Ferb” costumes, I can only say thank you to all the people who have impacted me during my time in the office.
All of you have truly become a family to me, and I am so blessed to have served with you. You are the best people in the world, and you make saying goodbye so bittersweet. Mrs. Huff and Logan, thank you for leading us well and for giving us all your patience and guidance.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you. That little freshman who feared her first interview with a soccer player had no idea how impactful the Champion was going to be. From sportswriter to copy editor to editor-in-chief — every step of the way — you all have been such a blessing to me.
Thank you, thank you. And may the Elsa wig forever hang by the door.
Sarah Tate is the graduating editor-in-chief for the Liberty Champion. Follow her on Twitter