Have you ever wondered about the Camosun students writing the articles you read in Nexus? Know Your Writers will help you dive into the minds of the writers behind the stories. This issue, we caught up with contributing writer Jayden Grieve.
What drew you to journalism?
Because I had to travel for a couple of hours every day to get to and from high school, I never joined any clubs or after-school activities. When I got to Camosun, I didn’t just want to lurk in the shadows. I’ve always kind of thought of writing as one of those hobbies that I’d like to do if I were better at self-motivating; having a deadline and people that are depending on you forces you to quit procrastinating (at least when you get to the night before your story is due). Working for the student paper really opens up the world; it’s surprising how often I’ll have to cover a topic I’ve never considered before. I’m also happy to be able to publish my comics somewhere!
What is the most awkward moment you’ve had in an interview?
One “trick” that reporters use to get information out of people is to create silences. When they answer your question and trail off, you just don’t say anything, and they’ll feel obligated to say something else. Often what they say is a lot more candid. It’s usually a good trick, but there was this one time where I let the person I was interviewing finish speaking and then waited for them to say something else. That silence felt like a good 10 minutes—it was probably about 25 seconds—and I started panicking and didn’t have my next question ready so I blurted out something really stupid. I love walking into my own traps…
What are the worst and best parts of your job at the paper?
I really enjoy my duties; I really like having deadlines because they actually make you do something. The worst thing is all those horrible deadlines. Man, do they suck.
Why did you come to Camosun?
I literally forgot that you had to apply to colleges at the end of high school; maybe I never knew in the first place. I panicked (I seem to do a lot of panicking), but Camosun was accepting applications later than everywhere else and, fortunately, I wanted to live in Victoria. It may surprise folks to learn that I’m actually pretty smart. My grades and community involvement on Hornby Island were probably good enough to get me into one of the more prestigious schools, but I’ve never regretted coming here. I think our school’s really fantastic—and inexpensive—and I’ve had some awesome instructors over the years.
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
My dream is to be an animator, so I spend lots of time drawing and coming up with stories for that. I love baths; I take at least five a week, minimum; two a day, minimum, if I’m sick. I read a lot of 1920s-to-1960s fiction and watch a lot of cartoons. Name almost any animated program that’s not dumb and I’ve probably watched it three times. I’m an anti-nihilist; my motto is, “We’re all going to die; let’s be nice to each other and have fun!”