Seeing the stories around her
It’s ironic that despite my passion for storytelling, I sit with my laptop and struggle to write the story I know best: my own.
I’ve always loved stories. I learned how to read at age 3 and have been a bookworm for the last 17 years. My parents and older sister will tell you I carried a book everywhere I could.
Saturday morning soccer games? On the sidelines with a book. Waiting for piano lessons? I’d read a book. Fifteen-hour drives to see family? You get the point.
But these days I spend more time learning and writing others’ stories than I do reading.
Before we get into more details of my story, here’s a brief exposition: I’m from Tallahassee, Fla., and attend the Timberlane Church of Christ with my family. I chose Harding University in Searcy, Ark., at age 16, which was the same year I joined my high school’s yearbook staff.
My sophomore yearbook didn’t include a few active clubs on campus. Everything that year was hybrid and chaotic as we returned from COVID-19, but I felt those clubs’ stories should still be told.
Kenzie James produces a broadcast for HU16 at Harding University in Searcy, Ark.
So I joined junior year.
Then the yearbook introduced me to journalism.
Fast-forward four years, and I now tell stories through photography, Harding’s student-run broadcast station and the campus newspaper, The Bison.
An article I wrote for The Bison last semester sparked my interest in combining the stories I love reading and the stories I tell. I interviewed investigative reporter Jerry Mitchell when he spoke at a seminar on campus. Mitchell is also a Harding alumnus and one of the newest members of The Christian Chronicle’s board of trustees. Our conversation piqued my interest.
My favorite genre to read for years has been legal and murder mysteries, and I reported on court proceedings last summer as an intern at ECB Publishing Inc. in Monticello, Fla.
I decided to take a stab at investigating for one of my finals. I wrote and produced a true crime podcast about two cases in White County, Ark. This was one of the most stressful projects I’ve ever tackled — with only four weeks to produce the podcast — but the lessons I learned were invaluable.
As I investigated these cases, my interview with Mitchell stayed in the back of my mind. Our conversation in February opened my eyes to how faith can be incorporated into reporting. Mitchell is an advocate for biblical truth and justice.
Kenzie James poses with her camera.
God’s justice was a recurring theme last semester as I studied the prophets and learned about the U.S. criminal justice system in my classes. God values justice, as David wrote in Psalm 37:28, but his first response is always love.
Because Christians are called to love, I desire to keep learning from faith-driven journalists like Mitchell. Tiane Davis and Nic Fraraccio — the Chronicle’s previous interns — encouraged me to apply for this summer internship.
I’m grateful and excited for the opportunity to grow stronger in incorporating my faith in my storytelling with the Chronicle. I look forward to combining the two while sharing the stories of the Lord’s work through the church.
I’m grateful and excited for the opportunity to grow stronger in incorporating my faith in my storytelling with the Chronicle.
KENZIE JAMES, a senior multimedia journalism major at Harding University in Searcy, Ark., is a Christian Chronicle intern working in the main office in Oklahoma City. James grew up in Tallahassee, Fla., where she attended the Timberlane Church of Christ.
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