“She was my answer to prayer,” junior Leah Ryg said.
Coming into this school year, Ryg was on the hunt for a co-editor to join her in the Life and Times section of The Echo. After working without a co-editor in the 2019-2020 school year, Ryg knew she wanted to work alongside someone this year.
Enter Sarah Wordhouse.
Wordhouse had written feature stories for The Echo, but was attracted to the freedom and creativity she saw in the Life and Times section. When she signed up for Life and Times, she found out that she would be working as a co-editor with Ryg in the fall of 2020.
For Wordhouse, joining The Echo freshman year was an easy decision. As a Multimedia Journalism major entering on a journalism scholarship, she was required to spend some time working for The Echo and knew that would be something she enjoyed.
“I had written on my school’s newspaper for a couple years and loved it, so it was a very natural decision,” Wordhouse said.
Ryg also entered freshman year as a declared Multimedia Journalism major, but was not planning on getting involved in any activities right away. It wasn’t until a friend asked Ryg to write a story for The Echo that she began to get involved with the paper.
“I did yearbook in high school, so that’s why I was like, ‘Oh! I’d be interested in that!’” Ryg said.
Wordhouse and Ryg remember being in an 8 a.m. Presentation Software class together, but had never really met each other prior to this year. Though they didn’t have much time to get to know each other, the two co-editors quickly bonded over their common love for TikTok, fashion and interviewing bands.
Wordhouse and Ryg describe their working dynamic as a “cohesive vibe.”
“We just mesh,” Ryg said.
The two enjoy bouncing ideas off each other, and although they are still learning each other’s skill sets, they already appreciate one another’s strengths. Wordhouse values Ryg’s experience as an editor, and Ryg admires Wordhouse’s strong approach to interviews.
As the Life and Times co-editors look forward to this year, they have a vision for their section of The Echo.
“I want it to be a large variety of things,” Wordhouse said. “I’d like to bounce between some more serious topics, and also lightheartedness and just being able to have fun with it.”
The two co-editors would also like the Life and Times section to include stories that are often overlooked or misinterpreted as unimportant.
“We’d just like it to be known as a space that includes everyone, and a space where everyone can tell their stories,” Ryg said.
Ryg and Wordhouse feel that their work as co-editors gives them an opportunity to participate in Taylor’s mission: to develop servant leaders marked with a passion to minister Christ's redemptive love and truth to a world in need.
As they think about the impact their section will have on the Taylor community and beyond, Ryg and Wordhouse both feel that it is critical for their stories to include a common theme of hope.
“The world doesn’t need another reason to be sad,” Wordhouse said, “I want to write about things that are important, but also that are hopeful. I always try to end [an article] in hope.”
Even when stories lack a happy ending, the Life and Times co-editors try to look forward to better times, and encourage readers to do so as well. This is their way of ministering to a world in need.
Ryg and Wordhouse are excited to work together in the coming year, and look forward to what this school year will hold for the Life and Times section of The Echo.
“I think this is going to be a really good year, and I genuinely mean that,” Wordhouse said. “I think it’s going to be a good year for The Echo.”
