“It’s interesting when you get to my age you kind of have this reflection on your life,” said UW teacher Margaret Stewart. “You ask yourself that question and I don’t really know. I may very well have taken on the journalism path. I had always dreamed of being a photojournalist, or a war or foreign correspondent. That may have been an option, but the older I got the more interested I was in technology. My mom is a nurse and I appreciate the nurturance that comes with that so that might have been a field. I really don’t know. I do feel though I should be doing what I am doing. I really like my job and I hope the students can tell I really like teaching. I really get into it and I take pleasure in interacting with the students.”
Margaret Stewart, or Mitzi as her students call her, has been a COJO teacher here at the University of Wyoming since the fall of 2007 starting as a teacher assistant for Public Speaking, a class required of all COJO students. Mitzi is a Rollings, Wyoming native and loves the state due to it being an overall beautiful terrain with mountains so close. She talked of Laramie specifically being “a delightful town” with much to offer.
She received her undergraduate degree in Journalism and soon after gained her masters in Communications making her one of the few teachers at UW under the COJO department who is capable to teaching both aspects. She started her career hoping to become a photojournalist.
“I fell in love with photography in high school,” expressed Mitzi, “and I enjoyed taking my photo class. I worked with Ken Smith and the photo lab TA for several years in the old school photo lab with the dark room and the sink with the solution, and I had to deal with the developer and everything. I enjoyed that very much. That’s what I intended, but then I started to tutor in the oral communications center and I liked the idea of teaching.”
After she completed her Journalism degree she was offered a teaching assistant position for one of the Public Speaking classes on campus, which helped her make the decision to become a COJO teacher. Mitzi loves the department due to every faculty member being supportive and welcoming, plus Mitzi claims the COJO students are some of the best and enjoy all the department has to offer
Besides teaching, Mitzi is a happily married woman to another COJO teacher, and she has two loving children. Together they spend time with Mitzi’s mother, who lives nearby, and hiking on days when the weather permits it. She is also an avid book lover, Great Expectations by Charles Dickens being her all time favorites with relatable characters and a dose of drama.
“If I’m being honest though, I really love media consumption,” asserted Mitzi. “I love television; I love movies; I love reading; I love podcasts. I know that’s a terrible hobby to have, but I love it.”
Being a media instructor this is no bad hobby to maintain. Mitzi’s knowledge of books, television shows, movies and other media forms have influenced her to become a well rounded influencer to her students when it comes to communications and journalism. Hopefully she does not decide to hang up her hat any time soon.
