Shelly Williams

A 9^th-grade injury ended Shelly Williams' volleyball career. "I felt lost," she recalls. But she found a greater joy: writing -- and a path that has led to star performance as editor-in-chief of TCC's award-winning student newspaper, The Collegian. 

Williams recently was named by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times as the 2010 Texas Community College Journalism Association's Journalist of the Year, an honor that also earns her a summer internship at the Caller-Times, which is rare for a sophomore. She and Collegian staffers have earned many awards this year in state and regional contests. 

Williams plans to make journalism her life's work after earning a baccalaureate degree at The University of Texas at Arlington. She learned as a beginning journalist in 10^th grade "how much I liked being able to be a part of history in the making." In the news business, she said, "I love how every day is different and how each story can have an impact. You always learn something new, and I love that." 

Williams takes in stride the difficulties that mainstream journalism has endured, such as staff reductions and loss of credibility in the public's mind. "The jobs are out there, because the news doesn't stop," she said. "There's always going to be the need for someone to write about it." Credibility issues, she added, just remind journalists to work harder at attaining fairness, accuracy and objectivity. 

Williams said her studies at TCC, particularly her Collegian experience, have been well worth the frequent 64-mile roundtrip commute from Duncanville to Northeast Campus. It's all part of a larger journey toward "the career I know I'll never get tired of doing."