Travis West | Editor-In-Chief

Published: Dec 1. 2014

Life only gives us a handful of moments that we can recall vividly and I am happy to say that serving as editor-in-chief for Viewpoints has been one of them.

When I joined Viewpoints in Fall of 2012, I was apprehensive, nervous and most of all fearful that I may never find my place in college after changing majors 3 times.

For me, writing was never a career path. It was a way for the usually introverted person I am to express my deepest thoughts and emotions without fear of being judged by sharing them with another person.

It was not until I joined Viewpoints that I realized I could make a passion of mine a career as well.

I quickly fell in love with the process of producing a newspaper. Anyone who knew more about the process I listened to and was eager to take on more responsibility.

Serving as editor-in-chief has been validation for me. Writing is what I was meant to do.

Everything that has transpired from the start of my term has been a learning experience.

Having to handle multiple personalities and situations that would spring up hours before deadline are learning experiences things I will carry with me into my career.

For all the times I bumped heads with editors and other staff members, I thank you.

You all challenged me and because of that, I learned and hope we are all better for it.

I never have taken anything said in those heated exchanges personal and I knew it was because we were trying to do what we thought was best for the paper.

To the editors who served on my staff, thank you. We have known each other for a little over 2 years and the growth we took as a newspaper has been tremendous and although we never achieved my personal goal of a perfect paper, we strove for it and can proudly say it was within our grasp.

To our advisers Mr. Burns and Mr. Lovelace, thank you both for your help and guidance. I have learned a lot through the critiques and appreciate your support throughout my term.

Matt Schoenmann, who is our journalism specialist and honorary staff member, thank you for everything. From the introduction to new music and many laughs, to the invaluable advice and guidance. Some of the best times I had as editor-in-chief were showing up early and just talking about life.

And to the heart of the paper, the writers. Without any of you, the entire paper does not exist. All of you made our jobs easier and are a huge reason why the paper is at the level it is at.

Last, but certainly not least, my first editor and successor, James Williams. Thank you for showing me the way. I always felt that you deserved to be editor-in-chief and now that you will be taking over I believe that you are the person who can take Viewpoints to the next level.

My goal was to be better than my predecessor and we achieved that. I hope I made it tough, but  my advice is to strive for the same thing.

The experience was what I thought it would be and more. At the end of the day, no matter what happen in the newsroom I was always happy I was there.