In eighth grade, Maddie Cowfer’s English teacher encouraged her to begin writing for the junior high school newspaper, Livewire. She decided to try freshman year and immediately fell in love. Now a junior, Cowfer is a writer for the Mountain Echo. 

After high school she plans to further her skills for a career. 

“ I plan on using my writing skills in college as I study to become a physician’s assistant,” Cowfer said. 

From her start at writing to now, her family is her biggest inspiration.  

“My family inspires me. My family has always been supportive of what I wanted to do.  They’re consistently pushing me to do the best I can,” Cowfer said. 

Cowfer looks forward to seeing what the future holds with her articles. 

“I’m excited to see the type of new stories I’m going to write this year and where they lead me,” Cowfer said. 

Publishing wasn’t easy for her in the beginning. Like most things, it took practice. 

“It took me a while to learn all the rules and how to write a journalism story. But the more experience I had the easier it got,” Cowfer said. 

Her favorite type of story to cover surrounds the opinions of others. Her articles “Local bands perform” and “Alumni return for Homecoming game” include interviewing students and getting different perspectives. 

“I like to write stories where I get to talk to different students and get all their thoughts on a topic,”  Cowfer said.

Cowfer is passionate about writing and started it on a whim. 

“I started writing when I was in ninth grade. I thought It would be something fun to try out and ended up loving it,” Cowfer said. 

Cowfer’s family inspires her to publish stories. Her experience has made writing stories easier. She plans to use her skills in the future, and loves writing for the Mountain Echo.