By Jason Haselkorn
Sarah Killip’s passion for writing started at a very young age. When she was little, Killip would go around the neighborhood and gather her friends to create scripts and act out movies. It was that passion for writing and photography that led to her joining her middle school’s paper. Years later when she transferred to Brockport, those passions only grew stronger.
Sarah Killip is a journalism and broadcasting major with a minor in sociology and is a member of the creative writing graduate program. Outside of the classroom, Killip is a member of the Brockport track and field team and a freelance photographer. The next thing she’ll add to her resume is Editor-in-chief of The Stylus, Brockport’s student run newspaper.
“I love learning from people and about people,” Killip said. “I also love the outdoors, so being more of a narrative journalist has always been really appealing to me. The freedom to create things like that is endearing, but it’s also crucial to help share perspectives, knowledge and promote change. Voices need to be heard to grow, and journalism is an outlet to use your pen to do that.”
Killip has been at The Stylus for four years, and her time there has given her the experience needed to continue to move both the paper and her career forward. In addition, she interned at 585 Magazine where she refined her skills as a journalist.
“I was able to help run their social media, upload articles to the web, work a ton with InDesign, work with photographers and write some pieces as well,” Killip said. “The team there asked what I wanted to do and really tried to provide work that aligned with my interests. Since then, they’ve hired me as a freelance writer, and they’re still just as willing to assign me work that I would enjoy. I get to write profiles on businesses, people, all things local, it’s great.”
Current Editor-in-chief Ellen Paddock will be passing the torch on to Killip, and has all the confidence in the world in her successor.
“I have so much confidence in Sarah to lead this paper,” Paddock said. “She has a vision to build on and grow everything we’ve been doing at The Stylus post COVID-19. This year was more about rebuilding, but under Sarah’s leadership, the paper will return to its full glory, and in my opinion, probably even better with the multimedia methods Sarah will implement. I couldn’t be more confident in her as a person and as a writer.”
Killip has big plans for both her future career and for The Stylus. Killip and current Managing Editor Cambrie Eckert will be teaming up next year to continue to move the paper forward.
“Sarah and I plan to work together next year to really grow The Stylus and have more of a presence on campus,” Eckert said. “Our main goal is to bring this club back to its former glory from before the pandemic and expand ourselves further. We have so many ideas we want to do, like starting a TikTok or maybe a podcast, tabling in the Union, just to name a few. I’m really excited for this upcoming year and what our new Editor-in-Chief and I can bring to the table.”
Both Killip and Eckert believe that their vision to expand the newspaper in the multimedia aspect will draw in new faces to the club and build a bigger audience on campus. In order to do that, they will increase recruiting efforts by visiting classrooms and informing students on all of the possible topics they could cover. The duo also plans on printing two editions of the paper monthly.
The Master’s program in creative writing has been a great stepping stone for Killip. As part of the program, she is working on a journalistic narrative piece about traveling across the country, something she hopes to turn into a book one day.
When her time at Brockport is over, Killip will continue to follow those passions that got her to the point where she is today.
“I’m not sure exactly which direction my career will take me in,” Killip said. “I’ve always loved to create, learn, report and write. I might look into some more journalism graduate programs, and I’ve also been considering getting my MFA in creative writing. One thing for sure though is I plan on traveling. If I can land a job writing/reporting for an outdoor publication that would be a dream come true. I guess I’m just following my interests and seeing where I end up.”
Wherever Killip’s future takes her, there’s one thing for certain—The Stylus will be in good hands.
