It’s time for me to fly.
After three semesters here at the East Tennessean, I have come to the end of the road. This is the last Matt’s Mastermind ever.
Today I want to look back my tenure here at the paper. It was a wild run.
Former executive editor Keisha Bruce hired me in August of 1999. I’ll never forget that first semester. Our sports editor was Ben Wittkowski, a man who became one of my best friends.
It was so much fun hanging around Ben. He along with Corey Shoun, Charles Harrington and I had such a great time talking about sports or just having our little comedy zone. These three guys could always put a smile on your face. I can honestly say that those three months were the greatest times of my life.
Ben and Charles have already moved on to bigger and better things, while Corey is leaving the paper this semester. It’s appropriate we’re going out together. He is one of my best friends and has always made me laugh. But I thank all these guys as well as Keisha, Chelsea Shoun and the others from my early days here at the paper for the way you treated me. You guys will always have a special place in my life.
My second sports editor was Corby Yarbrough. To be honest, we didn’t always get along. But at the same time, I would not be the writer I am today without his leadership last winter. He taught me to take a risk. He brought our sports page to another level with controversial columns about ETSU sports. We decided we were not going to be the public relations department for ETSU. It was definitely for the best.
I can credit all my journalism improvement to Corby. I now like writing controversial articles. I realized that I wasn’t in this business to make friends, but I didn’t want to hurt people either. I know that I did hurt a few people with an article I wrote last spring about the non-recruitment of Demetric Stevens by the ETSU basketball program.
I want people to know that I love this school and I love ETSU sports, especially basketball. I just saw something wrong and I wrote about it. I have no hard feelings toward the basketball team or the coaching staff. I wish them the best and I hope to cover them in the future. I’m just doing my job.
Corby also moved on and a new crowd took over. My fellow sports writer Chuck Myron became executive editor and Jared Shoun became the sports editor. Jared is a person who let me go with the flow this semester. If I saw a story, he let me do it. Jared is not only a great editor, but also a very fun guy. I will definitely miss him and my fellow sports writer Michael Farkas, who has been a friend to me since the first day I showed up on this campus.
I will also miss the smiling faces of Mackenzie Blair, Krztena Owens, Katie Howze and Joy Lawson, four ladies that always brought sunshine to our office.
This was the semester I met Robert Carver. It was so much fun arguing about religion with him. We disagreed, but we still became friends. I’ll also miss those political discussions with Chuck and Abby Morris. It’s good to know you don’t have to agree with somebody to remain friends.
Speaking of friends, the local media have become dear to me in the last year. They treated me like I was one of them.
Some of those people that I have enjoyed hanging out with are Kenny Hawkins, Jamie Combs, Allen LaMountain, Jeff Birchfield, Bucky Dent, Trey Williams, Rick Sheek, Doug Fritz, Doug Janz, Bill Lane and David McGee. It has been a lot of fun to be around these guys and I know we will continue to be friends in the future.
I have also enjoyed the friendships I have made with coaches. They know I have to be a fair reporter, but that still hasn’t stopped us from having good relationships. The coaches that I dealt with the most were Paul Hamilton, Dave Mullins, Mike Cress, Karen Kemp and Kim Byrd. They have always been very accessible to the media and I hope our paths will meet again.
I also must say goodbye to the two people that make this place run, Office Manager Candy Naff and our adviser, Martha Milner.
Both of you don’t get the recognition you deserve. I’m sorry I never told you how much I appreciate you ladies. Thanks for putting up with me because I know I was hard to deal with at times.
I would also like to thank my fellow students for their support. It felt really good to hear things like “that was a good story,” and “all the supporters of organized religion love you.” Anything helps in this business. As I said before, I’m not in journalism to make friends, but it doesn’t hurt to have them. Sometimes you get stressed out over your articles and it helps to talk to somebody you love about what is going on.
Most of all, I would like to thank God for the opportunity to write. God gives you your talents and this is the one he gave me. I used one of columns to write about the Lord, and took a lot of criticism for it. I do respect other beliefs, but I have to write about what’s important in my life. He has totally turned my life around within the last two years and I have to pay homage to him.
I always listen to what God is saying and right now he is calling me to move on and start a new chapter in my life. At the same time, I will never forget the last 15 months and will I always cherish them. I have enjoyed being a part of your life and I hope you will never forget me.
God Bless.

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