Tobi (Walsh) Laukaitis

It's a girl's name too.

Lynchburg, Virginia

Former crime reporter. Current marketing writer and social media manager. Lover of all things nerdy, caffeinated, and Wes Anderson.

Tobi (Walsh) Laukaitis

It's a girl's name too.

Lynchburg, Virginia

Former crime reporter. Current marketing writer and social media manager. Lover of all things nerdy, caffeinated, and Wes Anderson.

Serving the Underserved
Medical School continues its founding mission to reach Southside Virginia. About an hour south of Lynchburg sits the city of Danville and its 41,000 residents. Though Danville is much larger than the town where fourth-year student-doctor Kaitlyn Murray grew up in rural Ohio, it is one of the many underserved areas in Southside Virginia — a region where Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine (LUCOM) is making an impact.
Students become part of history in Dead Sea Scrolls cave discovery
On her hands and knees, 23-year-old Liberty University graduate student Christy Connell slowly crawled for hours through a narrow cave on the cliffs west of Qumran, near the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea in Israel, over a two-week span in January. “In the smallest parts of the cave it was so narrow I had to crawl on my stomach,” Connell said.
From Liberty To Capitol Hill
Each story in this special feature section demonstrates a tenet of the “We The Champions” Declaration, part of a universitywide project that aims to tell the world how Liberty is fulfilling its mission of Training Champions for Christ. After nearly a decade of working on Capitol Hill, Liberty University alumna Sheria Clarke (’03) has clearly left her mark.
In Time of Need
Each story in this special feature section demonstrates a tenet of the “We The Champions” Declaration, part of a universitywide project that aims to tell the world how Liberty is fulfilling its mission of Training Champions for Christ. Though the new school year just started a couple of months ago, LU Send Now, Liberty’s quick response program for urgent disaster relief and humanitarian needs, has already been hard at work dispatching teams to the U.S. and the Caribbean during a deadly hurricane season.
Teachers in Training
Each story in this special feature section demonstrates a tenet of the “We The Champions” Declaration, part of a universitywide project that aims to tell the world how Liberty is fulfilling its mission of Training Champions for Christ. Education students focus on the challenges affecting urban school systems.
Fighting fears, pursuing dreams
Twin sisters from Iraq survive the perils of war to start new life in U.S. as doctors. During Match Day at Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine, twin sisters and recent graduates Noor and Sarah Alnazal held sealed envelopes containing the location of their residency placements. They took a deep breath, quickly ripped them open, and scanned the letters.
New Life
Local church works to preserve historical Lynchburg churches through merger. Nestled among gas stations, empty buildings, and single-family homes, Rivermont Avenue Baptist Church has remained an impressive figure in the neighborhood for more than 100 years. While the church building itself may not have changed much over the past century, its residents have.
Lynchburg Living Magazine
Passion Conference pastor Louie Giglio tells students to deny the enemy a seat at the table
Pastor and founder of the Passion movement Louie Giglio urged students not to allow Satan, the enemy, to be welcomed in their lives as he preached from Psalm 23 in Liberty University Convocation on Wednesday. Giglio leads Passion City Church which has locations in Atlanta and Washington, D.C. He and his wife, Shelby, founded the Passion Conferences in 1997, a yearly event for more than 32,000 college-age students.
Finding Their Beat
What happens in Freestyle Fridays, stays in Freestyle Fridays. That’s the rule teacher Casey Wood has for students in his “Exploring Language and Culture Through Hip Hop” class at E.C. Glass High School, an elective that explores hip-hop and rap as an art form. As soon as the bell rings on Fridays, the classroom is quickly transformed into a makeshift performance space.
Lynchburg Living Magazine
Keeping the Momentum
Millennials are loving Lynchburg, but local leaders are determined to bring in more. Aubrey Varraux and her husband, Zach, have only lived in Lynchburg for the last five years, but they are convinced they want to stay in the Hill City for as long as they can. So naturally, when an article by Review.com ranked Lynchburg as the No. 1 city for millennials to move to in 2019, Varraux was not surprised.
TALES FROM THE CRIB
Instead of running away from things that go bump in the night, Woody Watts always runs toward them. “My wife and I even got married on Halloween,” Watts said. “We’ve always wanted to be like the Addams Family, but I think we’re more like the Munsters.”. Watts can trace his love for investigating the unexplained back to his childhood, when he was obsessed with radio dramas and “The Twilight Zone.”.
Lynchburg Living Magazine
Zooming Around Town
How scooters have brought a unique group together in Lynchburg. While that’s a conversation that could cause some bad blood in the scooter community, both types are welcome in the Vespa and Lambretta Club of Lynchburg. Though scooters may seem like a niche hobby, the group has drawn a diverse crowd from all over the city.
Lynchburg Living Magazine
At 89, oldest graduate achieves her educational goals
While putting her 12 children through school and working full time to provide for her family, Ella Washington, 89, never abandoned her goal to continue her education. On Saturday, she walked across the stage at Liberty University’s Commencement as the oldest graduate in the Class of 2018, earning her associate degree in interdisciplinary studies.
Film students catch attention of national news crew as work begins on TV episode
For a moment, it’s unusually quiet on a dead-end street in Downtown Lynchburg only miles from Liberty University’s campus. Suddenly, 51 Liberty cinematic arts students are on the move. Actors get up from their seats on the front porch of a small home and check in with the script supervisor. Production assistants grab blankets to keep the talent warm as the crew quickly resets the scene so they can roll again before they wrap later in the afternoon.

About

Tobi (Walsh) Laukaitis

AP Style

Social Media Management

Meme Expert

Copy Editing

Feature Writing

Creative Thinking

Branding

They say do what you love, right? For me, that was always writing. (And for a brief moment, a giant singing cupcake, but that's a different story.)

I graduated from Liberty University with a B.S. in Communications: Journalism in May 2015. I jumped right into my journalism career as a crime reporter for the Lynchburg News & Advance before transiting to working for Liberty University's External Communications Office in December 2016. At LU, I covered Convocation as well as several departments and schools writing news and feature stories.

Currently, I'm the social media manager for Sodexo's Liberty University account where I manage Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and yes...Tik Tok. Since jumping over to social media management I've helped developed crisis protocols and created some viral Tik Toks. Basically, I make a lot of memes. You can check out my work at @LibertyDining.

But I haven't forgotten my journalism roots. When I'm not working, you can find me freelancing for several publications here in Lynchburg. I've missed covering my community and I'm thankful I still get to do it as a side hustle.

If you would like to learn more about me or have any freelance opportunities, feel free to email me: tobiwalsh04@gmail.com.