When entering college, new opportunities can be overwhelming. With coursework that piles up and involvement that takes over, many college students do not pursue more than they can handle—but for Baylor University junior Camille Kelly, she already has her foot in the door to a career in journalism.
Kelly graduated from LCM in 2024 and is currently attending Baylor University in Waco, Texas, majoring in journalism. She now works for two separate publications and has been busy managing it all while exploring new stories. Nevertheless, her adventures with journalism started in high school.
“I have always loved writing, but in high school I discovered a more specific passion for journalism,” Kelly said. “My teacher and journalism coach, Lindsey Fruge, introduced me to an entirely new world of writing: the power of using storytelling to serve the community. My favorite class in my freshman year of high school was her Journalism 1 class, and from there she asked me to compete in UIL Journalism and apply to be on staff at the LCM Bear Facts newspaper. Newspaper and UIL gave me more than just skills for my future career; I gained a community, a family really, and Fruge became a mentor and friend who is the reason I still am loving and pursuing journalism today. I joke to my friends in college now that journalism is the best career choice because ‘it is a job where you literally get paid to talk to people and write cool stuff.’ Talking to people and writing are my two favorite things. With that, it is also such a diverse field, and there is so much more you can do with it. There are many jobs and fields you can go into with a journalism degree, so I am excited to see where the Lord takes me.”
Kelly currently works as an editorial intern at Waco’s local magazine, Wacoan, and as a reporter for the Baylor Lariat, her university’s newspaper, through her advanced writing and reporting class. Although switching between both styles of writing and designing has been challenging, Kelly has already written some intriguing stories.
“My favorite stories to write for both have been any feature stories I get to do about interesting people,” Kelly said. “For the Wacoan, I have gotten to interview local authors, actors, musicians, business owners and so many more. For the Lariat, I have had the opportunity to feature a family of world-famous violinists, and more recently, I wrote a story about a GroupMe group chat that includes every guy named Luke on Baylor’s campus. The group chat is called ‘Lukes at Baylor,’ and has been around for years. When the Lariat posted the finalized story, the company GroupMe actually reposted it on their socials, which was wild.”
Even though Kelly has been working in publications for quite some time, she gives all credit to God; without him, she would not be where she stands today. She also credits her freshman professor, who introduced her to these publications.
“God definitely provided for me to be able to have a job at the Wacoan,” Kelly said. “My freshman year of college in my first journalism class, Intro to Mass Comm, my professor was Kevin Tankersly, this really cool guy who actually writes a regular Food & Drink column for the Wacoan, among other things. For one of our classes, he had the Editor in Chief of the Wacoan, Michelle Johnson, talk to our class about the magazine and what it is like running a publication. The Wacoan is extremely focused on serving community and telling local stories, which is right up my alley of what I want to do with journalism. I remember after seeing all the community involvement and feature stories the Wacoan publishes, I literally called my mom after class excitedly telling her about it and saying, ‘this is the kind of writing I want to do.’ Beforehand, I had no idea that the type of stories I love to write most were found in magazines. Several weeks later, Tankersly mentioned to us casually at the beginning of class that the Wacoan was looking to hire a college intern. After that, it merely came down to emailing my professor, emailing my now boss, Editor Emily Ober, sending in my resume and portfolio, going in person for an interview and waiting until they let me know I got the job.”
For Kelly, a typical workday can look like a variety of things. On top of her schoolwork, she spends Tuesday and Thursday afternoons every week in the office at the Wacoan, where tasks vary depending on the week.
“I spend a lot of time writing online blogs for The Grackle, working with spreadsheets, adding events to the website calendar, getting content for social media and helping with editorial stuff,” Kelly said. “Every once and a while I have had the opportunity to write an article for the print magazine. I also do a lot of interviews, which is by far my favorite part. Work also sometimes involves leaving the office and getting out in the community by doing in-person interviews or getting media content.”
On top of working with these publications, Kelly attends classes full-time. Depending on the day, she will have class, work, Lifegroup, or even church. With all she involves herself in, it can be difficult to manage everything—but Kelly holds it all together thanks to the layout of her schedule.
“I have the most convenient schedule I have ever had and probably will ever have, all this semester,” Kelly said. “All my classes are on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and then I work on Tuesday and Thursday. Few people have that luxury, so I am grateful I get to somewhat compartmentalize my life pretty well that way. Also, this may sound like a small thing but keeping school email and personal/work email strictly separate helps me keep my life straight.”
Since working for the Wacoan and Lariat, Kelly has gained far more confidence in pitching her ideas and communicating with her team. In both publications, she has grown as a writer and communicator, realizing she had to get good at taking and learning from feedback. In both positions she started out really timid, but now she is more confident in both the newsroom and office settings. This journey highlights how vital curiosity is for a journalist’s growth.
“I would say that the best skill you can have as a journalist is to be curious,” Kelly said. “To be curious about the ‘why’ of things, to be curious about people, the world, the untold stories, the unheard voices—that is what makes you a good journalist. Whether you are going for news, broadcast, human interest, sports, politics, science, business or any field under the sun, the best journalists are plagued with curiosity in a way that makes finding unique and fresh angles a wild adventure. So, if you want to be a successful reporter, my advice is simple: be curious.”
Moving forward, Kelly hopes to get more involved with the community. Her favorite journalism beat is human interest, and with local journalism, she is looking forward to getting involved in the community and meeting new people through her work. Above all, she is extremely grateful for those around her and for where the Lord has led her, and she wants to continue following wherever He may lead.
“I could do nothing and I would be nothing without Jesus,” Kelly said. “Of everything that has changed for me since college, my life has been completely transformed by the love of Jesus Christ, and anything else in my life pales in comparison to my life with Him. I also want to thank my family and friends for supporting me and encouraging me as a writer my whole life, and I want to thank Fruge for being the most amazing teacher ever. I also would like to thank fellow journalist Bailey Gorham for writing this story!”
