Throughout my academic career at Northern Michigan University, my family has always pushed me to go into the field of journalism.

Up until last year, I did not realize how right they were to push me in this direction.

At the start of next year, I am going to be the editor-in-chief of The North Wind, something I scarcely could have seen ever happening to me a little over a year ago.

I have always told people that news never stops, but I have learned quickly that neither do the careers behind bringing news to faithful readers and watchers.

When I first came to NMU, I was a pre-veterinary major. Since I was a just a little boy, I wanted to become the next James Herriot, one of the most well-known veterinarian novelists the world has ever known.

My grades started strongly enough, but there was that ever-present mantra coming from my family during the entire endeavor: “you should try journalism.”

Then, it happened. I incidentally attended a writing and announcing course and the whole idea started to sink in. One day, one of the former producers of WNMU-TV 13’s Public Eye News located on campus stopped by the class to attempt to recruit new volunteers for the news team there.

On a whim, I signed up without a second thought.

Since the transition into a dual-major career of English writing and media production and new technology with a minor in communications, I literally have not allowed myself to stop moving.

I have anchored a television-news broadcast down at Public Eye News, worked cameras for both Public Eye News and the Central Collegiate Hockey Association as a student ambassador, ran technical and audio boards for multiple shows at WNMU-TV 13 and, eventually, became one of the very people that first brought me into news reporting.

Currently, I am one of the two student producers running Public Eye News, a disk jockey at Radio X and the sports editor of The North Wind.

Now, more than ever, I am immensely excited to carry on the role of editor-in-chief at The North Wind.

I have big shoes to fill and tell myself that every chance I get, much as I have been doing in all of my endeavors whilst moving on up.

This is the opportunity of a lifetime for a college student looking to go into news editing and reporting, and I am going to put my all into the job.

With new leadership comes new adaptations to any role, whether or not the changes are innately beneficial.

The way I see it, the newspaper has been doing an excellent job that cannot be altered, structurally, thanks to the leadership that has been behind the printed pages you see across campus every Thursday morning.

Every person approaches a job in a completely different fashion, even if, to them, it doesn’t feel that way. I want to be able to do the past leadership justice while also bringing my experience and knowledge to the table.

With newspapers suffering globally due to changes in how society receives its news coverage, I would really like to aim at bringing more and more online capabilities to The North Wind.

I’ve seen reporters of other newspapers carry cameras and phones with them at all times to interview people and release small reporting packages to the public from the scene at the drop of a hat.

I think that would be an excellent addition to the paper, so long as I know what I am getting myself into.

I would also like to bring other news resources on campus, such as Public Eye News, into a possible partnership with the paper.

The news station down at TV 13 is looking to add a possible feature within normal Public Eye News programming that would spread the news from the paper into the news on public television.

As I tell everyone who asks me, the largest aspect of my career pathway, I am finding myself learning every single week and every single day while I am on the job.

I would never change it for the world.

A real job is one where you can enjoy what you are doing.

And if you enjoy what you are doing, it’s  hardly any work at all.