I have spent the summer lurking behind a screen to psychoanalyze the WSU community and decipher what you truly want to be reading about. No, really — that’s what managing the Evergreen’s social media feels like.

Having the opportunity to work at The Daily Evergreen has taught me more about myself than anything else in the last five years. No experience I had in high school gave me the eye-opening realization that I was meant to be a writer.

I began college as a psychology major. I had everything planned and knew all of the classes I needed to take to graduate on time — maybe even early! Alas, life never goes as planned. As my focus shifted to writing for the Evergreen, my passions slowly revealed their true colors. I fell for the literary arts.

Do not get me wrong, I have always loved writing. And I have always been good at it. I was never the math kid or the science kid. I was the one the class stared at when the teacher mentioned Shakespeare or Poe. The kid who asked for extra paper during the first five minutes of the writing exam.

I struggled to stay within word counts and keep deadlines because I wanted to make sure everything was perfect. This would tend to get me in trouble. But what do you say to a teacher who says you have too much information to fit on one page? Do you apologize? That was the last thing I wanted to do.

However, when you write for a newspaper, you need to be concise. I learned that the hard way when I wrote 900 words when there was a 400-word limit. I had to cut down, or there wouldn’t be enough room for my story. That was probably one of the bigger reality checks in my educational career.

I have noticed that as my time at the Evergreen progresses, I become more aware of how my passions truly interlock with the things I am good at. I love knowing I am bringing an element of entertainment to the table, whether that be through social media or writing articles. That is one of my biggest goals here at the Evergreen — entertaining the masses.

As the semester carries on, I urge our readers to be as active as possible on our social media. Send me likes, comments and as many questions as you can conjure. That way, I will be able to properly inform our staff on the best possible story focuses and what you want to hear about most. I am trying to keep things as fun and entertaining as possible for our diverse community of Cougs!

Reach out to me via Evergreen socials or [email protected].