Caleb Workman is the News Editor for The Lance at the University of Windsor. Some of you may see him around campus or covering/hosting events, but, if not, you can definitely find his name in the byline of some articles.
What does your job entail?
My job can vary from covering events to doing reviews and just being around the university making sure everything that happens gets its rightful place.
What got you interested in writing?
Writing. I’ve always been a writer ever since I was really young. It started as fiction and as I got older I kind of found a different way to apply it because getting into the creative writing is a lot harder than kind of doing the news side of it. So that’s still my goal. My dream is to do creative writing in a sense, but having this journalistic approach to start is definitely helping me and it gives me a job.
What do you do in your time off of work?
What very little time I have off, I’m a huge gamer, movie fanatic. I watch a lot of old anime. I drum, I’m in a band, I run a non-profit organization so I’m everywhere. I collect comic books and stuff like that- a lot of nerd stuff if that sums it up in a sense.
Tell us more about this non-profit organization.
So True Reflections is a non-profit organization based off of people finding their true image and learning how to accept themselves. I and my friend, Hailey [Trealout], co-founded it back in March and what we’ve been doing is building an online community together and kind of promoting that with live events as well. So we will have an open mic night, where we’ll have a non-judgmental zone, and we’ll invite a bunch of people across to come out. They can dance, sing, tell jokes, whatever they want on stage for the time they have allotted. We also have the masquerade coming up. The date is almost set in stone, so if people want to find out about that, they can visit our Facebook profile or our website and it will have all the information as soon as it is released.
Author’s Note: True Reflections Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CelebrationOfDifferences
True Reflections Website: http://contacttruereflect.wix.com/truereflections
Do you have any hobbies outside of writing?
I drum a lot. That’s probably it. I’m in a band and so there’s that. We’re pretty steady right now. We do a lot of shows outside of Windsor because we don’t find the music scene in Windsor is too good, so we’ll play in Michigan and London a lot. So drumming and the band is probably my biggest hobby outside of writing and gaming. I take [gaming] pretty seriously. I do reviews and that kind of stuff.
What are some of you career goals? Life goals?
Career goals. Oh my gosh, that’s a good question. My dream goal, the ultimate goal I have is to one day start kind of a non-profit thing, but I want to do missions work around the world and find places that really need help to set up aid, like a system that would work for them, so mainly third world countries going out there and then giving the tools they need to succeed and thrive. Not so much that technology will take over, but enough that they can live comfortably and happily. So that goes along with the mental health aspect of it too because a lot of these people suffer from mental health issues and they don’t really have a hope. They are in their setting and they are kind of cut off from the outside world, so bringing in the mental health, teaching them how to live and take care of themselves is kind of my goal. Other than that, I’d love to start my own media company focused around gaming and entertainment. I want to write a few books and I’d love to play music for the rest of my life. So if the band could take off more than it is now, that would be awesome.
What do you hope to accomplish at your job with The Lance?
Kind of making a name for myself, I guess, as a credited writer.
What were your major influences? Who influenced you to go into writing?
I guess I started writing when I was really young. I probably started writing before I started reading. But as time has gone on, especially in the fictional world, George Orwell is my guy. He’s, in my opinion, the best writer that’s ever lived. His work is amazing and it’s not just 1984, there are books like Burmese Days, Animal Farm, all these other books that not a lot of people have read. They just blew my mind, especially Burmese Days, like that book made me want to never read again, but in a good way, because he’s just one of those writers that can take you, make you believe something, and then crush it and you won’t even question because George Orwell wrote it. He’s my biggest influence in that sense. Journalistically, I don’t really have a lot of influences. I kind of want to make a name for myself away from the status quo in a sense.
Who influenced you in Life?
I gotta give that one to my dad. He by no means does anything that I’m interested in. He’s a home renovator, which I’ve done, but just the way he lives life. He’s been through so much starting from a young age (divorced family, moved away). He gave up hockey. He was on his way to the NHL and he gave it up so he could support his family back home. Then he moved to Windsor, met my mom, they got married, he did program managing at a plant for years and years, and then he got fired after this whole transfer thing. But, even then, he didn’t give up in a sense that he wanted to do the best for his family. So if I can have that sense of family from him one day, I would be more than happy with myself. I know my seven year old self would look at myself then and be like you’re doing okay.
FACTS ABOUT CALEB
Birthday: March 19, 1994 (21 years old)
Favourite Food: There’s nothing like a good steak.
Favourite Colour: Blue and Pink
Favourite Activity: Gaming
Favourite Animal: Alaskan Malamute Dog
Pets: A golden retriever named Ariss and a grey cat named Misty
Coffee/Tea/Hot Chocolate?: Coffee (I could use one)
Cook/Eat out?: Cook
“Live a loving life” ~Caleb Workman