Sarah Friedman hustles to fill news pages, presses reporters to meet deadlines, and puts the final polish on top stories.

The newsroom may be smaller than most, and the circulation modest, but the Kenyon Collegian answers the bell every week under Friedman's watchful eye as co-editor-in-chief of the student newspaper that dates to 1856. "I just love writing, and it has allowed me to do that," she said. "This has allowed me to do something productive outside the classroom."

Part of the Class of 2010, she joined the staff as a first-year student, writing sports. By the first semester of her second year, Friedman became the features editor and moved to news editor for the next semester. "I developed over the years," she said. "I remember my freshman year, it really stressed me out just writing one article on deadline. It just got a lot easier the more I did it.

"I like interviewing people. I like meeting new people. Even as a freshman I felt like I knew everything about the school. You meet with people and they tell you things." The newspaper, she said, is a venue for "the different views on campus" and strives to serve the College and Gambier communities.

"I like interviewing people. I like meeting new people. Even as a freshman I felt like I knew everything about the school."

Friedman is majoring in international studies, with a focus on the Middle East and religion. She split her junior-year semesters studying abroad in Morocco and Israel. She enjoys the study of languages and relied mostly on Arabic and French during her four-month stay in Morocco, where she lived with a host family and came to a "broader understanding" of people in the region. That included exposure to local foods. "My host mother's couscous is the best," she noted.

Her senior thesis is an analysis of water issues in Israel, Jordan, and the West Bank. And her after-Kenyon plans include work for a social-change organization in the United States, travel abroad, and eventually law school, perhaps combined with the study of international affairs. "I want to do something so I can make a difference."