My name is Jacob Waters and I am currently a senior at Auburn University pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism. I have served as the sports editor of The Auburn Plainsman, Auburn University's independent campus newspaper, since March 2023. Since joining The Plainsman in fall 2021, I have gained valuable experience. From volleyball to football, I have covered just about every NCAA sport at Auburn. I was blessed with the opportunity to cover 10 of Auburn's 12 football games in the 2022 season, including three road games, which has immensely improved my writing. In 2023, I covered eight of Auburn's football games, which included traveling to two of those. Since taking over as editor of the sports section, I've learned how to edit the stories of the 10-15 writers in the sports section. I've also learned how to operate InDesign for when we print a few times each semester.

Outside of my work with The Plainsman, in fall 2022 I got the opportunity to work with The Alex City Outlook, the city's premiere newspaper. Every Friday night I was assigned the task of going to a different spot in the Tallapoosa County area to cover a team's football game, interview players and coaches, take pictures and write a story. Most weeks I covered a different team, so I was not assigned to one team for the entire season which helped me learn how to interview different people.

I am also currently interning with The Auburn Villager, a newspaper in Auburn. With The Villager, I have been tasked with reporting on community news which has expanded my journalism experience and given me the chance to write more feature stories.