Senior Jordan Buie placed fifth in Editorial Writing at the UIL State meet Tuesday, May 24. Buie, who was the only Rouse student competing, placed in the 6A division at the competition which took place at The University of Texas at Austin.

“I went to state as a sophomore so I knew what to expect and that helped a little,” Buie said. “Because I knew that this was my last time to compete at the state level, I really wanted to do well. Fifth place wasn’t what I was aiming for, but it’s better than nothing.”

Buie, who is the Editor-in-Chief of the Raider Rumbler, competed in the editorial category of the four journalism UIL categories. In order to place, she had to write a story on an issue and support an opinion.

“Editorial is one of my favorites to compete in besides News Writing because it’s one of the few times you’re able to put your opinion into the piece,” she said. “Editorial is where you can make a stance, stand up for what the staff believes in and maybe change people’s minds. And that’s really what we’re trying to do in newspaper, provide the needed information and get people talking.”

During the 45 minutes she had to complete the paper, she lost 10 minutes to a computer malfunction.

“All of the sudden, my computer froze and went black,” Buie said. “My computer had a meltdown and so did I, but I mean, it was a quiet meltdown. I feel like I could have placed higher if I hadn’t had 10 minutes shaved off my time, but oh well.”