As most should know, Ms. Miller is the Liberty High School yearbook, journalism, and literary magazine teacher and she has a great story about how she became a journalism teacher. 

Ms. Miller went to a Catholic school, which happened to not offer any journalism opportunities and no students worked on the yearbook staff for creative ideas like they do at Liberty.

“We had no newspaper and an old nun made our yearbook pretty much by herself. It was not good. The classes I teach now are exactly what I needed when I was in high school,” said Ms. Lisa Miller. 

Going into college, Ms. Miller didn’t originally want to be a teacher, but had always loved writing and wanted to see what she could do with it as a career.

“I really went to college as an english/journalism major. I wanted to write, not teach. My college advisor kind of tricked me into the whole education thing,” said Miller.

In college she had to take multiple classes and got a major in english, journalism, and education.

“I also have a masters in library media, just in case I want to try something new,” said Miller.

Throughout all of the publications she directs, there have been many accomplishments, along with her personal accomplishments as well.

“All our publications (yearbook, newspaper, literary magazine) win awards every year. I was also Liberty’s teacher of the year in 2010. I feel like I have grown the journalism program a lot. I have lots of amazing students and we added a YouTube channel, and up next we are developing a website!” said Miller.

“There are not any major obstacles in journalism. Some days cell phones feel like one obstacle because students pay more attention to them than they should sometimes, but overall I do not really feel there are obstacles, but I always just smile and stay calm when things happen,” said Miller.

Being a young, aspiring journalist, Ms. Miller, had role models and people she looked up to. 

“I originally wanted to write for a fashion magazine, so my original role models were print magazine editors like Anna Wintour and Jane Pratt. I also have always admired Anderson Cooper because he is smart, fearless, and hilarious man,” said Miller.

Ms. Miller also has goals for the future of Liberty High’s publications including successfully going digital. 

“The goal of the website is to reach out to more students and make an interactive journalism experience for all of the Liberty community. Transitioning from a print paper to a news website will be challenging, but worth it,” said Miller. 

Even though Ms. Miller did not pursue the exact career she has always wanted to, that did not stop her from writing and reporting.

“I did not totally abandon my dream of being a writer. I am actually a reporter for Brides and Weddings Magazine, and I wrote for a pretty popular website for a few years. I was a style, beauty, and philanthropy reporter and even did some celebrity interviews!” said Miller.

Ms. Miller has a great story that shows that plans can change at any time, and when they do, make the best of it. Don’t let it stop you from your original goals, but be open to new possibilities.