The Trailblazer has appointed a student editor for the first time in three years.

Joshua Smith has been a journalist for The Trailblazer for two years, and recently he
was appointed as student editor. He is now in charge of organizing stories and leading
class discussions amongst the student journalists for their weekly agendas and goals.

“I’m very appreciative of the opportunity,” said Smith.

The transition from journalist to editor was a nerve-wracking one, Smith said. He was not
acquainted with leading things on his own, not at first.

However, the support from his student media advisor, Professor Jennifer McNeece, and professors gave him the confidence he needed to build himself and the program up.

“There’s a lot of people that have faith in me,” he said. “Having that trust and having the
support from my teacher, it all helps.”

Smith’s main goal as an editor is to leave a lasting good impression and raise the journalism program up.
“I want it to grow,” said Smith.

He wants more people to be interested in journalism as a profession, and to see The Trailblazer grow as a news source.

“When I came here, we had just started the program back up because we didn’t have anyone to do it,” Smith recalled. “The hardest thing was starting from scratch. We didn’t really have anything.”

Smith is committed as an editor to helping the journalism program grow and inspire other journalists.

He is also captain of the VU Cheer squad, involved with the Student Activities organization, and he hopes to become an investigative journalist.