Howdy!
I am Blake Downs, a Communication Graduate Student here at ENMU. As an undergraduate, I studied history and journalism and worked as a correspondent for both The Chase and the formerly named Portales News-Tribune. After graduation, I worked as a writing tutor at Clovis Community College before beginning my current work as an English teacher at the Clovis High School Freshman Academy. I have also been drama director at both my church and for my previous assignment as a theatre teacher, and I have always approached my work with an artistic and visual mind.
I grew up with a love for story and setting, being drawn to tales that have a strong sense of place and environmental character. As I was raised here on the high plains of eastern New Mexico, I definitely acquired an appreciation for landscape and rural culture. Both my parents are from the East Coast (and raised a whole herd of children), and we would make yearly cross country roadtrips to visit family. This kindled my love of exploration and travel, and having a dad who would hop in the car and take me on whirlwind spur-of-the-moment trips up to the mountains or down to the Texas Hill Country definitely helped that love flourish.
As an (unlikely) future world-renowned anthropologist/reporter or (perhaps, more realistically) a simple missionary, I enjoy being immersed in different cultures and using those experiences to connect and help people to find truth that leads to freedom. Real stories of real people can have great impact on the public, and doing all we can to reach out to others is a worthwhile endeavor. I am honored to take on this position as the editor-in-chief of Houndbytes, and I hope to encourage up and coming voices and writers in a world becoming increasingly divisive and censored.