On Christmas Day, 2000, the Spearmans were cleared to take their baby boy home, who had been in the ICU for ten days. After prepping baby Michael (or Mike) and his parents, the hospital staff placed him into a red stocking and sent them on their way. 

Fast forward 20 years and some change, Mike Spearman says he’s been “thriving ever since.” 

Hailing from Bonney Lake, WA, Mike grew up with his parents, younger sister and cat, Shadow. After coasting and hanging out at the beginning of high school, he realized that he wanted to go to college and decided to step it up. 

By senior year, Mike was still unsure what he wanted to do in life. He really liked his high school counselor, and could see himself being a counselor as well. He was pretty involved in sports, and liked writing about sports too, so he considered sports writing of some kind. The only other thing he considered was teaching. 

He applied to a few in-state schools, and got a definite yes from EWU. Now, he’s on track to graduate in 2023 with a double major in psychology and journalism. Sports writing still speaks to him, but he wants to be able to counsel if/when that feels right. 

Mike has 13 years of experience in baseball and seven in basketball. He’s interested in football and likes the sport, but never played because “concussions are scary.” But he covers all those sports and more, both here at The Easterner and the Spokesman-Review. 

At the beginning of March, Mike started at the Spokesman-Review recording stats and scores from high school games with summaries. He’s run into some EWU alumni since he began. 

Through the Easterner, he’s been able to attend and get coverage of some EWU athletic events as well, which he considers a privilege he’s lucky to have. These two experiences have led him to a potential career path in sports journalism. 

Nowadays, Mike starts most days with a two-mile run to wake up. After getting ready, he usually does homework or hangs out at the EWU Catholic Newman Center, sometimes with some other Easterner staff. He likes being outdoors and being social as well. Mike has a group of friends that he’s had since second grade scattered all over the PNW, but they still keep in contact. 

He enjoys hiking, and loves finding great hikes around Washington. His favorite so far is the Colchuck Lake trail near Leavenworth, WA. It’s an intermediate hike that takes around five hours to complete, but is worth it for the “insane view.” 

You may be able to find Mike hammocking on campus when it’s nice out. 

Mike keeps up with sports, supporting teams he chose a long time ago. For baseball, he roots for the Los Angeles Angels. For basketball, it’s the Oklahoma City Thunder. His football team is the New Orleans Saints. 

He likes to go with the flow and live a low stress life: “If it happens, it happens.”