How has this school year been? Let’s take this exact moment as a sample: Here I sit in JFK’s terminal 8, revising a forthcoming article about metrics for The American Press Institute, fresh off of a meeting about newsletter and audience strategy at StoryCorps, with a half-marked-up copy of The Western Front in my bag, a list of students’ investigative story ideas at my elbow, and a half-plotted journalism department hackathon open in another tab on my browser.

And, full disclosure, I’m setting a rotten example: This blurb was due yesterday. (You might want to mark me down a full letter grade for that. I would.)

In sum, my first four months at Western have been lively, demanding and outrageously fun — not unlike our students, come to think of it.

That part is no surprise; I came to Bellingham from The Daily Tar Heel at the University of North Carolina, after a busy few years juggling journalism practice with life on campus (adjuncting at Northeastern and Harvard in Boston, earning a master’s in writing at Trinity College Dublin). I’m looking forward to bringing that practice (20 years’ worth now) to our students as they explore feature writing, new forms and platforms, and develop the crucial, durable qualities of curiosity, skepticism and hunger for growth.

As I find my way at Western, I’d like to hear about your growth, your practices of journalism and storytelling, and how your time here has influenced your careers. Please be in touch!