Valerie Royzman

Valerie Royzman joined WKSU in August 2019 as a news intern. She is a senior journalism major at Kent State University’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Valerie has spent the last few years in Northeast Ohio, but Toledo is home.

In the spring of 2019, Valerie served as editor of The Kent Stater, the university’s student-run newspaper, and . Before that, she held different positions on staff, including features editor, copy desk chief and administration reporter, to get a feel for her true calling. Her favorite stories to write are features—stories that make readers feel deeply. Valerie also wrote for The Burr Magazine on campus.

In the summer of 2019, Valerie worked alongside the Pulitzer Prize-winning team at The Cincinnati Enquirer/Cincinnati.com to cover the opioid epidemic. She covered breaking news on drug busts and overdose spikes, daily news and wrote a profile on Scarlet Hudson, a character first introduced to readers in The Enquirer’s “Seven Days of Heroin.”

Valerie has contributed to Ohio News Connection, a network of independent outlets pioneered by Public News Service. She also enjoys writing essays and poetry. Valerie worked at the Wick Poetry Center on Kent State’s campus, where she taught poetry workshops to immigrants and refugees in Akron’s North Hill neighborhood.

In her free time, Valerie likes to relax with a good book, visit art museums and coffee shops and spend time with family, especially her Boston Terrier, Hazel.