Junior Rayna Christy has accomplished many great achievements in her three years of high school. Not only is she a managing editor for the newspaper, but she also is an Academic UIL Regionals Champion and State bound in two journalism events for the second year in a row.  

She recently won the Regional Championship in Feature Writing and Headline Writing and will compete at the State meet in Austin next month.

Despite all her demanding honors and dual-enrolled classes, Christy manages to juggle many other roles such as public relations officer for Interact, member of National Honor Society and FCCLA, and employee for the local newspaper Orange County Stones and the Horseman’s Western Store. 

In her free time, Christy enjoys writing creatively, singing, listening to music, and spending time with her family. Her future ambitions include graduating college with a BA in mass communications and going into public relations, all whilst still pursuing her passion for journalism. Christy strives to continue volunteering and helping people.  

Her greatest motivators are her mother for always pushing her to do her best and journalism adviser Lindsey Fruge because she is proud of her, no matter what. Christy wants to continue working hard and making them proud throughout her competition season. 

Christy’s favorite class in Mrs. Dunn’s dual-enrolled chemistry class. She has always loved chemistry and enjoys all the lessons and experiments she gets to take part in.  

Most of all, Rayna is proud of her performance at Regionals UIL this year and thankful for her team for always believing in her even when she doesn’t believe in herself.  

Christy is trying to enjoy her high school years. Her favorite quote, from a Trace Adkins song, is: “you’re gonna wish these days hadn’t gone by so fast.”

According to Fruge, she is not surprised that Christy has done as well as she has in UIL journalism.

“Rayna first advanced to Regionals as a freshman, which I think shows just how talented she is,” Fruge said. “She was the Regional Champion in Editorial Writing last year and advanced to State in two different events. This year, she was the Regional Champion in Feature Writing and Headline Writing, and she will compete in both of these events at State. She is truly just a one-of-a-kind student and competitor. Her drive is unmatched, and she has worked so hard to get to the level of success she is at. Not only is she talented and hard-working, but she is also just an overall great student with the best personality. She is a huge asset to my team, and I can’t wait to see what her future holds.”