Hello fellow Eagles,

Welcome back from spring break! I hope everyone had a safe, relaxing and enjoyable time off from classes.

For those who don’t know me, my name is Michael Brock and I am the Editor in Chief of The Easterner. This is my third year at EWU and I will be graduating in June.

As a senior with just 10 weeks left until graduation, it would be easy to mail it in for the rest of the year. I could let senioritis seize its unrelenting grasp on my life, and just scrape by on responsibilities with classes and The Easterner. C’s do in fact get degrees, right?

Though you are not in my exact shoes, I am here to tell you there is another option. Whether you’re a senior getting through the last stretch of classes or a freshman finding your footing in college, the turn of the calendar to April always brings the same thing: a higher potential for complacency.

As the doldrums of winter turn to the chipper vibes of spring, it becomes easier to relax and rely on the foundation that is set. Despite this urge to take my foot off the gas, I plan to finish the year strong, both with the newspaper and my classes.

Speaking specifically about The Easterner, we have made many adjustments to our product this year. We have a new print layout, an updated website and we have branched out to doing more multimedia projects like podcasts and videos.

In an effort to become more synonymous with EWU, we have also strived to strengthen our relationships with organizations and groups on campus. Our ultimate goal, which is included in our mission statement, is to “inform our EWU audience of the governance, activities and views of our community.”

We want students to be knowledgeable about what’s going on at the university, while also making sure content is presented in a way that’s beneficial to our audience. One way we are making sure our reader’s needs are met is with a reader survey, which can be found on TheEasterner.org/reader-survey/. Please take a few minutes to let us know how we’re doing and potential areas of improvement.

With each passing day, my time in college continues to wind down. Again, I have no plans of letting senioritis take over my life, either with classes or the newspaper. However, that doesn’t mean I can’t have some fun. This is the time in our lives when we can take risks and try new things.

What that means differs for each person. For me, that’ll mean pushing the envelop on our design and editorial coverage, as well as venturing into new reporting strategies and strengthening relationships.

Whatever we end up attempting in the next 10 weeks, there’s no doubt in my mind that we will continue improving week to week and informing you, our EWU audience.