Original post available at the Liberty Champion website.
In just two years, I discovered my passion — writing. A passion I find somewhat ironic, since growing up I always hated reading, and writing always seemed to be a cumbersome speed bump between any completed class and me.
Now, sitting at my laptop, at the end of my time as opinion editor at the Liberty Champion, I can say God was onto something when he led me to drop political science and become a journalism major.
Journalism is an industry unlike any other field. In just one year at the Champion, I wrote editorials on issues ranging from politics and culture to faith and religion. Though I just scratched the surface of many of the issues I covered, I felt honored to be the conversation starter. Is that not who we are as editorialists?
“When everyone zigs, find a way to zag,” Jonathan Merritt, an editorialist and Liberty graduate, once told me.
Being a conversation starter, you often find yourself in the hot seat — but I have been OK with that. As a writer, my goal has never been to fully convert any reader to my way of thinking. I believe if I bring even one person to the table, willing to engage, maybe for the first time, then I have done my job.
Those moments of vulnerability sometimes gave way to moments of consideration and learning. After all, I am nothing more than a life-long learner. The only difference between journalists and the rest of the world is we bear out our learning — though sometimes cluttered and confused — for all to read.
In time, “Let’s talk,” became a phrase I was familiar with hearing or seeing. For a few of my more controversial articles, I found those two words scribbled across the top in Professor Huff’s purple ink.
Those “Let’s talk” conversations always yielded refined writing and more seasoned thinking. In time, I came to enjoy those moments. And today, I can tell you I will undoubtedly miss all of our talks and day-to-day conversations.
I have learned so much as a writer, and Professor Huff played no small part in preparing me for this field. It has been a privilege and honor to sit under her teaching, guidance and wisdom.
This year has been a season of firsts for me. I have had the fortune of having my work published in FoxNation, the Washington Post and the Religion News Service. And my writing has been cited on MSNBC and in the New York Times.
In addition to the many professors to whom I owe gratitude, there are a few people outside my Liberty family who have played a part in molding and shaping me as a journalist. I will probably thank those people on Twitter.
All in all, I look back at this past year feeling blessed and proud to have had the opportunity to serve those around me and to work with such an immensely talented team of writers, editors and designers.
My passion is most assuredly writing, and I look forward to continuing conversations and starting new discussions in the years to come. The beauty of this world is that not all issues come with black and white answers.
We live somewhere in the gray scale, blessed with the opportunity to navigate it together. And, as a writer, who happens to be Christian, I have the privilege of wading into those gray areas, equipped with my faith, ready and willing to start the discussion.
Tré Goins-Phillips 