Kaitlyn Watkins is a fun, quirky, friendly student who has found a new home at USM. Transferring from William Carey University at the beginning of this Spring semester, she has quickly found her place on campus and has fallen in love with the atmosphere that has come to define USM. In just a few short weeks Watkins has transferred Universities as a Sophomore, become a News Editor here at the Student Printz, and joined Alpha Chi Omega.
Graduating from Lamar Christian School before heading to William Carey, Watkins is no stranger to change–especially during the past semester. From changing schools to changing majors, she’s finding she fits in at USM quite nicely. In her own words, “I just wasn’t happy at Carey. I tried to make it work, but it just wasn’t the right atmosphere. I felt like I needed to get out of my comfort zone.”
For Watkins, that comfort zone wasn’t just a college campus, but a college major as well. She is not shy in telling you about the things she’s passionate about. Those things just happen to be English and cute little kids. She fell in love with English and all it had to offer, but also realized that she needed to protect that passion from the drudgery of a 9-5. “I’ve always loved to read and write and I never had a clear plan, so I would go and try to find jobs that fit my interest. I realized I could have a job where I could do [reading and writing] every day. I planned on getting a degree for a job in publishing, but because I love it so much I think that doing it every day as a job would burn me out. I really want to do it more as a ‘for me’ thing.” That is how she found her calling in Elementary Education.
“I’ve been working at Venture teaching a Sunday school class for about a year now. I realized whenever I would talk to people about [teaching] how happy it would make me. Watching them learn things just excites me so much.”
Watkins has found the perfect place to leap out of her comfort zone while stretching her writer’s hand as next year’s Editor for the Student Printz. Even though it is typical for the Editor to be a major in degrees like journalism, Watkins brings with her unique experience. She worked on annual staff in high school before serving as the managing editor of The Cobbler (William Carey’s student newspaper) while serving as an intern at Dime magazine.
But Watkins is already thinking towards the future of the Student Printz.
“I really want to work on clearer communication with the campus. I want to represent every side of everybody. Really just making sure we get every side of the story and hear the student’s concerns.”
Which is no knock on the current Editors. “I’ve really loved every minute of working with the Printz so far, and I’m going to miss those who are leaving so much. I’m also not sure how I’m going to live up to them.”
A large part of change is learning from the bad and the good, mixing together lessons learned while not fearing the outcome of a mistake. Watkins has been around the writer’s block a time or two, and has picked up her own unique voice and skillset. While we’re sure she won’t be perfect, she will be the best version of herself. And with such a great community around her, we’re sure she’ll take the Student Printz to a new level–taking us right along with her.
