By Emily Langness, editor

Editor's note: The original version of this story named Carrie Mills as administrative assistant to Patrick Sehl. She is in actuality Assistant Director of Campus Ministries. Our apologies for the error.

Student, writer, runner, musician – all describe Friends University senior Jami Frantz, but those descriptors far from define her. She prefers to be identified as “one in whom Christ dwells,” a phrase she learned while part of Campus Ministries’ Barnabas Team.

Frantz has served as sports editor of The Crimson Chronicle since fall of 2007, contributing to the online student newspaper as far back as 2005. This is her last issue with the paper, as she is graduating this month with bachelor’s degrees in communications and Spanish. Her obvious passion for good journalism has been inspirational and will be sorely missed.

Initially coming to Friends out of a desire to continue in music and athletics, Frantz chose a biology major her freshman year while running for the cross country team and playing clarinet in the concert band. She was thinking of going into occupational therapy, but she took a job in the alumni office to stay involved in journalism, a passion she developed in high school.

“I wanted to keep writing, but I wasn’t convinced that I should make my passion my job,” she said.

That passion would not be ignored, though, and after deciding science was not for her, Frantz jumped into communications and didn’t look back.

Since her freshman year, she has worked on Friends’ online alumni newsletter, Friends Flash, and its printed counterpart, Campus Connection, an experience she found “really beneficial.” Later, she took an internship with The Wichita Eagle on the sports phone crew, which led to an unpaid copy desk position.

“(That experience was) most influential, because it revealed to me that I really enjoyed copy editing,” Frantz said.

Through her positions at the Eagle and The Crimson Chronicle, she was approached to write for High School Sports, the Magazine.

“Things just started tying together,” she said.

This summer, Frantz won the Wichita Professional Communicators scholarship over Wichita State and other Friends University students.

An article in the WPC June 2008 newsletter read, “It’s not that the other five applicants weren’t wonderfully worthy of our scholarship investment. But Jami simply knocked everyone out of the field. ”

After graduation, Frantz hopes to freelance and keep working with High School Sports, the Magazine, Friends’ magazine, Focus, and possibly develop her connections with Friends’ athletics department and The Wichita Eagle’s copy desk.

“I would really like to develop my photography skills on the side,” she said.

Another of her dreams is to work for a faith-based publication or create one of her own that highlights Christian Kansas artists.

Looking back on her time at Friends, Frantz pointed out Campus Ministries Director Patrick Sehl, Assistant Director Carrie Mills and experiences on Campus Ministries’ Barnabas Team as particularly influential.

“The activities I did on the team really helped shape more of my identity and helped me share what’s going on in my life with people,” she said.

On the other end of those experiences, she offered this advice to younger students: “It’s OK to be real with your trusted few,” she said, “and don’t let the things you do define you.”