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2025 Year in Review
Sophia Larimore shares your three favorite assignments of 2025
[January 09, 2026]
The year 2025 was interesting
in more ways than one. For me, however, it marked my first year
working as a stringer at a real and well-established newspaper.
Lincoln Daily News accepted my application in May of 2025, making me
their newest reporter. I have had my bumps along the road of
professionally writing, but the following opportunities I have had
while working this job have been nothing short of extraordinary.
One of the first articles written by me was the FarmFed ribbon
cutting and open house, “Rain
or Shine, FarmFed Launches a New Era for Local Food”. This event
sparked my initial love for journalism because I could feel how
important and special this was for the community. I originally
decided to pursue journalism because I wanted to share the stories
of others with their community; and I feel as though this FarmFed
article did just that.
By the end of the event, I was soaked in rain, but the rain didn’t
stop the dozens of families and community members showing their
support for FarmFed. When it came time for the unveiling of the
FarmFed sign, a crowd of people stood outside in the harsh rain to
watch the sign be revealed for the first time.
Another favorite article written by me was the Guest House article,
“Guest
House; From Popcorn Poppers to Community Pillars”. I especially
love the name of this one. Creating titles for articles is one of
the favorite parts of my job. I have personally been a customer and
visitor of Guest House for many years. It has been a favorite spot
of mine to sit down and write, or a place of rest after work.
The owner of Guest house, Ethan Hoinacki, has always been a face I
have been happy to see walking into Guest House—the opportunity to
hear him talk about the beginnings of the shop and his start in
coffee roasting was a great bonus to this story. I personally could
write a second article detailing the roasting of beans from this
interview as well as other facts about coffee beans; as a coffee
addict it was fascinating.
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Finally, my
all-time favorite article of the year has to be “A
New View from a Balloon”. The experience of riding the
balloon was a breath of new air. Air that was one-thousand feet
higher than I had ever tasted before. Although the view and
overall experience was breath taking, I enjoyed the way that
this article was written the most.
My favorite line from this article is the following: “The
balloon still lay on its side, the fabric gaping open like the
doors of a church.”
I think if I were to write this story now, I would replace the
word “church” with “cathedral” to sound grander. I would
probably rewrite the sentence to look more like this: “The
balloon still lay on its side; with its red, stained-glass
fabric gaping open like the doors to a cathedral”
The imagery in this sentence feels much stronger. Although I do
believe the original sentence does enough. As a poet and
creative writer, I became so excited seeing the sunlight through
the balloon I actually got goosebumps. I hope to feel this
excitement again soon.
[Sophia Larimore]
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