This year was pretty snazzy. Shoutout Brandon, Alex and Anna for making the Last Dance a fun one!
Hayden Stinchfield
A bit over three years ago, I was in some random class I do not remember the name of. I remember almost nothing about it, honestly, but what I do remember will stick with me forever.
The book for the class was a bit expensive, so the class group chat agreed to have one guy buy it for all of us and we would all Venmo him. In my joy over this development, I made some memes about our hero. Real run-of-the-mill stuff, like him as the wolf with all the arrows or the soldier blocking all the grenades from the kid. You get the idea.
The memes were… fine… but they were not why I remember the class. Somebody responded to my meme dump with something like “This guy has to have a meme page,” and I did, so I provided it. A bunch of my classmates followed me there.
The next school year, I found myself at a party with a bunch of the marching band. Someone walked up to me and introduced himself, and I realized he had been one of the classmates who followed me the previous year. I called him by his Instagram handle, and he called me by mine. I thought it was a crazy coincidence at the time. Now, I realize, it must have been fate.
A year after that, I needed a job. I had just changed my major from Political Science to Criminal Justice and quit my job at Northside Cafe, so I was browsing Handshake for somewhere new to work. When I saw that the Daily Evergreen was hiring, I applied. Journalism has always interested me and I love sports, so a sports reporter position seemed perfect.
We scheduled a Zoom interview, and when I got there I was surprised to see a strangely familiar face. It was the same guy from the party, from the class I forgot the name of. His name is Sam Taylor, and he was the sports editor of the Daily Evergreen.
That was two years ago. Now, me and Sam head the sports section together as co-editors. It has been a winding road for both of us, but there is nobody I would rather have captained this ship with for my final semester at the Evergreen and at WSU.
In my time here, I have been lucky enough to cover two amazing basketball seasons, the second of which saw the Cougs make it back to the NCAA tournament for the first time in over a decade. I’ve edited for many great writers who will do great things in the field someday.
Also shoutout to Brandon Willman, I guess, for hiring me as sports editor. That was the best decision he ever made.
This paper made me realize that writing is a dream I want to pursue, and I will forever be grateful for that. It’s been real.
Go Cougs!
Hayden
Sam Taylor
My freshman year, I took a political science course that required a textbook. A pretty average college experience.
Someone in the class group chat offered to buy the textbook for the class and put it in a shared Google doc. We thanked the epic soul and one of my classmates made a series of memes that were pretty good. I followed that dude’s meme page and read his story posts about basketball for the next year.
My sophomore year, I was at a marching band party that a bunch of other people showed up to. At the party was none other than the meme lord of my class. I introduced myself and we talked briefly.
That guy was Hayden Stinchfield. We remained mutuals, observing each other’s existence through Instagram stories full of sports takes.
My junior year, I had just become a sports editor. I was one of three writers when I started. I hired Trevor Junt (Kudos to Trevor Junt) and then responded to an email from that very same Hayden Stinchfield. I loved interviewing new writers because I felt like I kept it casual and talked about sports. A week or two later, I hired someone named Brandon Willman.
I am not ready to say goodbye. So, rather than say goodbye, I want to thank a bunch of people who made my Daily Evergreen, Murrow College and Daily Evergreen experience amazing.
It starts with the boyz in the basement. You know who you are. My fellow editors and reporters spent countless hours in the Daily Evergreen newsroom each Wednesday writing, editing and designing the next day’s paper.
It is a tireless process that I sometimes hated doing, but always loved seeing the end result. Also, the chance to hang with y’all was always entertaining.
Through the Evergreen, I got the chance to grow my journalism skills by Interviewing, reporting and writing. I got to cover WSU women’s basketball for two years, including their 2023 Pac-12 Tournament Championship and their WBIT Final Four run. I saw two of WSU’s finest, Charlisse Leger-Walker and Bella Murekatete at the top of their games.
I have also covered baseball, men’s basketball, tennis, volleyball and practically every other sport at WSU. A huge shout out to the WSU Athletics communications staff who ensured that student media had incredible access.
I am going to miss the Evergreen. So much so that I am pleased to report that I am not quite done. Catch a few more things coming your way bysamtaylor in the coming weeks.
After that, it’s onward and upward. Thank you Evergang! Y’all are the best!!
Go Cougs!
Sam
