She sits in front of her laptop in a room full of the state’s best and brighest writers, a blank slate before her, ready to be filled with words that will showcase her craft and creativity. For freshman Liberty Trupke, this isn’t just another UIL contest – it’s the culmination of months of hard work, practice, and dedication.
After competing in two different UIL journalism events at the Regional meet in Nacogdoches on April 26, Trupke has advanced to the State meet in feature writing and qualified as a State alternate in news writing. She will compete among the best of the best high school journalists at UT Austin on May 19.
“Making it to the UIL State Championship doesn’t feel real,” Trupke said. “I’ve always enjoyed writing, but I never thought it would take me this far. I will never forget how it felt to receive the message saying I was going to State as a freshman.”
Trupke competes in news writing and feature writing, which are timed writing competitions where contestants are given a prompt that they must then write a story about, using direct quotes from “sources.” Trupke said the competitions are basically a game made up of two halves.
“The beginning is when all the planning happens,” Trupke said. “As you’re highlighting the prompt you also must be thinking about how you will begin the story, how you want to order the story, and what part of the story is the most important to include. When the halfway mark arrives, that is when creativity begins flowing and it’s nonstop writing. Your brain just moves, and you have to hope you can write as quickly as your brain comes up with ideas.”
Trupke started participating in UIL journalism because of her journalism teacher, Lindsey Fruge, who asked if she would be interested in trying it out.
“Back when I lived in Wisconsin, UIL wasn’t a big deal, so I didn’t really know what it was,” Trupke said. “Mrs. Fruge explained what it was, and I decided to try it. I would have never expected it to have an outcome like this. I’m so very glad I chose to jump into the challenge of UIL.”
Throughout this UIL season, Trupke has won 11 medals from various practice meets, District, and Regionals. Going into this season, she said her main goal was just to try her best.
“I never wanted to go into a competition and do less than I know I am capable of,” Trupke said. “If I learned something and tried my best, I knew I did my job.”
UIL journalism is vastly different from other compeititons, in that how the contestants perform can depend on a variety of circumstances such as the prompt itself and individual judges’ style of grading.
“After each competition, I can look over the judges’ notes and learn what I need to improve on,” Trupke said. “Whether or not I made a spelling mistake or I made my lead a bit too long, after every story I write, I’m given something to improve on. Being in timed competitions puts on the stress of trying to make the story perfect within a specific time frame. Before each competition I must remind myself that no matter the prompt, I will try my best and use the time I am given to the best of my abilities. Whether I place or not, it makes me feel better knowing I tried my best.”
Even though this is Trupke’s first year as part of the UIL journalism team, she has met people along the way that have become close friends, and she has made countless memories.
“UIL is very academic based, but it is also about making connections,” Trupke said. “This season I have grown closer to my UIL teammates, these people I didn’t know that well at the beginning of the year. UIL Academics is more than just competitions and earning medals; it’s about creating a family. UIL has introduced me to a family I never knew I would need. It has taught me there is always something to learn and something to improve. UIL has given me the creative thinking skills that I will need in the future.”
As Trupke’s State competion grows nearer, she said she is looking forward to competing with and against those who have made it just as far as she has.
“I can’t wait to make more memories and be able to experience something like this,” Trupke said. “I’m excited to push myself and see what I’m capable of.”
