Advertising Manager Welcome Letter

Published: September 8, 2025

With the new school year upon us, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome students and staff back to campus! Starting off, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Gabriel Wheeler, but you can call me Gabe if you’d like. I’ll be the advertising manager for The Free Press, and it’s my first year being involved with the paper! In addition to this, I’m currently a marketing major in my fourth year here at USM! I’ve always believed that art and creativity can be expressed and displayed in multiple ways, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to do so by writing for The Free Press. With my position as Advertising Manager, I’ll be responsible for checking the authenticity, placement, and accuracy of the ads posted in The Free Press.

Since entering my fourth year here at USM, I’ve learned to appreciate and look at everything in a positive way. While doing this, I’ve also begun to understand the importance of taking each class session and the opportunities that come with it as a chance to better myself and prepare for what’s to come after college. As summer ended, I took time to reflect on some of my experiences. While reflecting on some of the experiences I had, whether it be online courses to further my progress with my degree or attending various social gatherings, one thing that stood out to me was networking, regardless of what your career or life path looks like I believe that networking can be the most useful way to put yourself out there while gaining new perspectives and meeting new people. When it comes to networking and meeting new people, I ended up using that as a deciding factor for living on campus this year for the first time. Personally, I felt as though I was somewhat on the outside looking in despite being a full-time student and commuting each day. I think that by living on campus this year, I’ll be able to connect and feel more involved with everyone on campus, if you happen to see me around campus, feel free to ask any questions or say hi! With everything said, I hope that everyone has a great semester and achieves what they want, not only academically but also in their life.