As I sit at the head of the table in the Viewpoints newsroom, reflecting on the past 16 months I’ve spent here, I am overwhelmed with gratitude and the long list of people I must give thanks to as I prepare to graduate and move on from Viewpoints. 

The first friend I met in Viewpoints was my professor, Matt Schoenmann. The seat I sit in now wouldn’t be mine without him. He gave me the confidence and ability to become editor-in-chief before I even wanted to be the newsroom leader. The presence of his guidance has been missed in the past couple of months as I’ve tried to navigate this job without him in my corner. 

Whether it was a critique, a conversation or a laugh, Matt was always there. I hope I made him proud in these past couple of months as I finish my tenure at Viewpoints. I also know his teachings will pay dividends as I move on to the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Arizona State University. 

I am forever grateful to Professor Angela Burrell and him for taking a chance on an 18-year-old kid, in his first year in college, to become Viewpoint’s managing editor. Their belief in me allowed me to prove myself to be the next editor-in-chief. 

I wouldn’t have been successful without the help of each one of my editors. Lennon, Tara, Marissa, Breanne, Sergio, Mac and Izabella’s work allows the wheels to keep spinning at Viewpoints. Each of them played their role to contribute to the success of this student publication. A special thank you goes out to my Managing Editor, Natalie, who has been my “right-hand man” during my tenure. Her willingness to always step up to handle a necessary task has tremendously eased the pressure of being a leader.

 I never envisioned being EIC. I honestly came to Viewpoints for the opportunity to cover sports. Yet, I succeeded in doing both. My career goals are to cover Division I athletics and professional sports. I believe that Riverside City College athletics is the closest thing you can find to a Division I program in the Inland Empire. That is largely in part to the staff and faculty who have maintained the success of these programs throughout the year. Athletic Director Cliff Dochterman is one of the kindest men you’ll ever meet. His support of all students shows his commitment to seeing the overall success of young men and women while at RCC, even if they are not a part of the athletic department. Oh, and he’s always up for a good story about his time at one of the many jobs he’s had in his life. 

Sports Information Director Samantha Wellman echoes the same beliefs as Dochterman and allows the relationship of public relations and journalism to work seamlessly. Never once was I ever turned down or denied an answer to a question I or any of my staff had. 

Former head football coach Tom Craft allowed me to break the news of his retirement over other major news publications in the area, giving me a nearly two-hour exclusive interview with insight into his life and career, and for that, I am incredibly grateful. It showed me his true devotion to seeing kids succeed and wanting to better their experience at RCC to send them off into their future endeavors. His intimidating and dry answers to interview questions will be missed by future Viewpoints reporters and me. 

Lastly, thank you to head baseball coach Rudy Arguelles. The first person I interviewed at Viewpoints was Arguelles. After the interview concluded, I told him thank you for his time, and he quickly said “no thank you” and that he appreciated the work I do. From then on, he showed my staff and I the stand-up man that he was. He was always appreciative of the work I did to help refine my craft, whether it be an interview with his players, coaches or himself, taking photographs on the field at practice or during games or even coming onto my podcast, which only had one episode before his appearance. There’s nothing Arguelles wouldn’t have allowed me to do covering his program. Well, except maybe take batting practice. 

I knew before I came to RCC that the sports programs were top-notch notch but didn’t understand why or how. After meeting and building relationships with all these people, I now know why they are consistently at the pinnacle of sports for community colleges in the state. The thing that has stood out to me the most in my time at RCC and Viewpoints is the “community” aspect of community college. Whether it be fellow students, athletes, coaches or alumni, everyone I’ve met is proud to be a RCC Tiger and embraces the city of Riverside. It’s almost like this experience gives them an edge in whatever endeavor they pursue. They wear the fact that they came to community college with pride. 

The “Dirty Riv” is a phrase the baseball team uses, and a phrase I’ve seen used in the city of Riverside (it’s also the name of my podcast), and I think that phrase is deeper than something cool and catchy. I think the Dirty Riv exemplifies what it means to be hard working, “getting down and getting dirty” to work for what you want. It’s a phrase that shows that all members of RCC have that edge. RCC may not have the best facilities, the most funding or the biggest campus, but it has the biggest thing of all, the best community.