2023 graduate and former editor of The Roar Victoria Witke has been a hardworking and key member of the student-run newspaper for years. Since joining during her sophomore year, Witke has gained insight into the world of journalism and learned valuable lessons.
Witke was interested in journalism and writing when she got to high school, but she wasn’t enrolled in the class. That is until she was convinced by Olivia Austin, whom she met in their shared Geometry class, to sign up for The Roar.
“I told [Austin] that I liked writing and I thought The Roar was cool and she was supposed to be an editor for the next year,” Witke said. “So I talked to her and she convinced me to join, especially [since] I liked media as it is.”
Her sophomore year, Witke was officially enrolled in The Roar. After two years of being a staff writer, and a unique journalism experience due to the pandemic, at the end of her junior year, the editors for the 2022-2023 school year were announced. Witke and upcoming junior Addison Forbes were selected.
“I really enjoyed being editor with Addy. She and I worked really well together this year because I have a little bit more of a creative emotional appeal and she’s way better at grammar, logic and ‘this is what makes sense,” Witke said. “It worked out really well as an editing team.”
Witke has built a reputation for herself as a dedicated and skilled writer.
“I know her as that 2,000-word opinionated editorial kind of writer where she just latches onto a story and then she gives it her all,” Forbes said. “She just really goes in-depth about something and explores a news lead from every single aspect.”
Audra Whetstone taught Witke for two years, in Advanced Placement (AP) English Language and AP English Literature. Whetstone praises Witke for her academic motivation and excellence.
“Tori had an appetite to continue to learn more,” Whetstone said. “She’d read anything, she’d find her own books that she loved but would challenge herself with classics. She was one of the most natural writers I think I’ve had while teaching AP English.”
Whetstone, often surrounded by students who lose motivation at the end of the school year, appreciates having a writer like Witke who continues to motivate herself and persevere.
“At the end, when she had already solidified an ‘A’ and didn’t necessarily have to push herself as a writer, she continued to always give her best effort no matter what, all the way to the end,” Whetstone said. “She always had new and brilliant ideas that added to the sophistication of her writing.”
Forbes also enjoyed working with Witke as well throughout her journalism career and time as an editor.
“She was so easy to work with and we got along really well together as people too,” Forbes said. “For a first-time editor, which was pretty scary, it was amazing to have her be alongside [me]. There’s just nobody else that I would have wanted more than [Witke] to work alongside.”
Despite only being an editor for a year, Witke has learned some valuable lessons.
“It does require a lot of patience and you need to figure out how to approach people differently depending on their different personalities,” Witke said. “Something [The Roar advisor Matt Howe has] helped me out with a little bit was that I’d be a little brash sometimes and I needed to tone it down, be a little bit cooler and less aggressive.”
Whetstone acknowledges that Witke is a quiet but strong person, and she loves when she does add her opinion to the conversation.
“When she does speak up, it adds a lot of value to our discussion,” Whetstone said. “She always comes up with angles that help her classmates think of things like real-world issues that not all high schoolers think about and she’s able to capture that and put it into writing very naturally.”
Getting different peoples’ stories and interests is one of Witke’s favorite aspects of journalism. She has learned that there is more to people than what meets the eye.
“You give someone the chance to talk about the things they enjoy and like doing and they just don’t stop talking about it,” Witke said. “That’s part of what I learned, that people have stories to tell and something like journalism is an opportunity to let people tell their stories.”
One moment that made Witke realize what she loves about journalism is when she interviewed her peer and fellow 2023 graduate Kayden Bravada for an article. She learned so much about what he was passionate about and his story.
“I knew he was going to be in the play and that there was something about him with film stuff, but the more I interviewed him and spoke to him, the more I realized that this kid has talent and it’s an incredible thing,” Witke said.
Many memories have come from a class as unique as journalism, with it being student-run and a big community. Witke’s favorite memory is when she traveled with 2022 graduates Austin, Calvin Hyde, and Emma De Mey to Muskegon for a video Hyde was doing on 2022 graduate Brock Johnson and his passion for helping to restore an old boat called the SS Milwaukee Clipper.
“It was really cool to see the history of it and I was behind the camera the whole time and it was cool to see Brock tell his story, especially cause you see him as kind of a nerdy kid who carries around a briefcase and wears a suit every day to school, then you see this other side of him and it’s incredible,” Witke said. “I would’ve never known that this kid was such a high-achiever and played such a big role in helping to restore this boat.”
In the fall, Witke plans on attending Michigan State University (MSU) and majoring in Journalism. She is currently applying to write for the state news at MSU. Her long-term goal is to go into investigative/long-form writing. She wishes to write about important topics that matter.
“I don’t want to be writing just about sports or just about politicians, I’d rather go in-depth like ‘exposing corrupt politicians’ or like ‘bad corporate practices.’ I want to make some sort of change even if it’s in a little way,” Witke said. “I really just want to keep writing.”
Forbes sees Witkes’ devotion to writing in all different aspects.
“[Her passion] definitely was there every single day when she just gave everything like 120%,” Forbes said. “I would be like ‘we have to do this’ and Tori was like ‘yeah I had a free hour I just did all of it.’ She was very driven, very dedicated and I think you can definitely see that in the way that she worked and wrote and she tried to inspire that same passion in other people.”
Being on The Roar opened a lot of gateways for Witke. She discovered her passion for writing and had the chance to figure out and practice her career path and she is grateful for the skills her time as both staff writer and editor has given her.
“The Roar taught me what I know about journalism, about the technician skill behind it,” Witke said. “I feel like it’s given me people skills [because] I’ve interviewed different types of people whether it be a star athlete of the basketball team or some nerdy theatre kid, [they’re all] very different people that you have to approach differently, and I feel like I’m better at talking because of it.”
