All about Charlotte
Charlotte graduated from Chardon High School, in Cleveland, OH, in 2024 and chose Ball State University to continue her academic career within journalism and her competitive career in competition Speech and Debate.
While in high school, Charlotte was Ohio’s two-time Speech state champion, an honors student, within leadership in both band and choir, and her grade’s graduation Honorarian.
Within a year living in Indiana and competing for Ball State's Speech team, Charlotte doubled her high school state championships. She also became a writer and editor for the Ball State Daily News, furthering a path in journalism and public speaking. She has also served as an office of student life ambassador and given tours for her university, worked as a HER Campus writer, served as both the secretary and the president of Ball State’s nationally recognized Speech Team, studied as an honors student within the honors college, and was a percussionist within the Pride of Mid America marching band. HER Campus was the beginning of her dive into fashion journalism and the Daily News newspaper began furthered interest in both opinion and news section writing.
Charlotte also has a 1000+ person following on her social media platforms, where she shares more detail about her life, style, and passions. TikTok and Instagram are her main digital scrapbooks. Both are linked in the "Contact" page and found @xo_charjo.
For Charlotte, commitment and hard work are everything. She has always excelled in communication, strategic thinking, and creativity, making the world of journalism a perfect fit for her.
Outside of her career, Charlotte is fiercely passionate about fashion and design, a big poetry fanatic, and an extremely ambitious competitor on the Speech and Debate circuit. She loves the city, movies, sweets, and the close community she holds and uplifts around her.
Expertise and skill set
Public speaking, news writing and AP Style, teamwork, commitment, enthusiasm, style and visual choice
Publications
Odyssey magazine Editor's Choice Prize winner in POETRY (2025)
Odyssey magazine Editor's Choice Prize winner in ARTWORK (2025)
Odyssey magazine Editor's Choice Prize winner in POETRY (2026)
Awards
Speech and Debate
3X High School Ohio state finalist (2022, 2023, 2024)
2X High School Ohio state champion (2023, 2024)
2X High School National Tournament qualified competitor (2023, 2024)
2X Indiana state champion (2025)
3rd in the nation as awarded by National Speech Championship (2026)
6th in the nation as awarded by National Speech Championship (2026)
Additional
Featured member for HER Campus (2025)
Ball State Dean's List (2025, 2026)
Employment and education
2025-present Jeweler
I became a jeweler in college, when looking for a side gig to learn more skills about fashion communication. I took a general exam to earn my fine jewelry license and was employed by JCPenney to work in their jewelry department. This job taught me so much about the fashion world and communicating with customers to aid and satisfy.
2024-2026 Social Media Intern
I worked as a brand ambassador for Bubble Skincare through the "Bubble on Campus" internship program through my Freshman and Sophomore year of undergrad. The job, as a social media campus representative, involves creating social media posts, understanding algorithms, and content creation. I learned a lot about social media and marketing through my time with Bubble.
Additional employment
I have also held positions working for Ball State University as both a student note taker and a First Year Student Ambassador. The first involved taking notes within class for differently abled classmates. The second involved working for the Office of Student Life and Admissions to give tours and welcome new students onto Ball State's beautiful Indiana campus. I also worked at East Coast Custard as a server, a diner and ice cream restaurant, for the majority of my time in high school. While food service wasn't my dream job, I learned a lot about communication and customer satisfaction early on from this job.
2025 Newspaper Intern
I spent the Summer following my Freshman year of undergrad working as an intern for the Geauga County Maple Leaf Newspaper based outside of Cleveland. The experience taught me so much about local news, interviewing, and (of course) newspaper writing! I was originally put onto the staff to shadow other reporters, but was moved onto the main writing staff weeks into my time with the publication based on my talent and commitment to the paper.
Education - high school and college
I attended Chardon High School and graduated in 2024. Beyond that, I attended Ball State University to study broadcast and news journalism, creative and professional writing, and media. I am on track to graduate in 2028 within the honors college.
Letter of recommendation
Provided by Cassandra Shofar, News Editor, on Charlotte's time with the Geauga County Maple Leaf
