Tweet

In this special feature inspired by Humans of New York, Viewfinder reporters got to know other fellow Grand View students through a series of interviews.

Erin Nossaman

By Anna Paul

Passionate, ambitious, timid: the three words that summarize Erin Nossaman.

“When I love something it comes really naturally to me, and I want to work as hard as I can on it, and I want to become the best at that thing,” Nossaman said.

Nossaman loves photography and an obvious sign of her devotion is her decision to pursue an internship in Denver, Colorado for the summer. She will spend her time working to learn more skills in the art of photography.

At a young age, Nossaman said that she really wanted to learn how to do a backflip, so she saved the money to buy tumble mats and began practicing. She had no one to teach her except YouTube videos and her own knowledge of what a backflip looks like. After hours spent working at it, she was finally able to do just what she set out to do, a backflip. Along the way she developed a high level of body awareness and how to do other tricks that likely benefited her on the dance floor.

“When I was choosing a college, I didn’t think dancing in college was going to be a possibility for me. But obviously it’s just in my head because now I’m here and I got chosen to be on the competition team,” Nossaman said.

---

Jesus Martinez-Aviles

By Charlie Deyoe-Snyder

Jesus Martinez-Aviles wants to be a local news reporter, but more importantly he wants to tell stories. Since he was in high school, Aviles has had a strong passion for journalism.

“I just fell in love with being part of the newspaper there,” Martinez-Aviles said. “And with the newspaper in high school, it came along with doing podcasts, calling people for interviews and even taking your own pictures for the articles you wrote.”

Martinez-Aviles started majoring in biology but switched to majoring in communications at Grand View because it aligned more with his professional and personal goals.

You can find Martinez-Aviles actively engaged with the GV community, filling the role as a multicultural ambassador and the co-president of the diversity alliance.

Martinez-Aviles has a clear idea of his goals for his future career as a storyteller and he knows what is most important to him.

“What’s the most important of a story, right? I’d say that it is the emotion that it gives off to the viewer,” Martinez-Aviles said.

---

Charlie Deyoe-Snyder

By Jesus Martinez-Aviles

Charlie Deyoe-Snyder is an aspiring writer. Born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa, he has the intention of taking his writing to the next level in his education, profession, and life.

“I remember when I was in the third grade, I was at the after-school daycare. I just started writing poetry and I sat there for like an hour. After that I was always interested in telling stories through creative writing,” Deyoe-Snyder said.

Deyoe-Snyder sees himself writing stories about marginalized people and their experiences, especially those who do not have the opportunity to write it themselves.

“I believe it is a good way to put change out there in a creative way,” Deyoe-Snyder said.

Deyoe-Snyder’s message for his future self is to, “Keep creating things. That’s what I really enjoy doing.”

---

Megan Mitchell

By Ryan Rinke

Megan Mitchell shared that the transition from Eldora to Des Moines was not easy all the time.

“Learning how to drive was the hardest thing. In traffic I was terrified. We had one stoplight in our town,” Mitchell said.

The number of cars in Des Moines was overwhelming at times for her.

Mitchell said it was a lifelong goal of hers to become a nurse. Even going as far as to take three semesters of nursing school in Iowa Falls. However, she says after the start of COVID-19 hit she had decided nursing school was not for her.

After a short stint at Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) to wrap up her general education courses and get acclimated to the city, she decided to transfer to Grand View. With some help from her academic advisor, Mitchell set her sights on the pursuing a career in social media marketing.

---

Anna Paul

By Erin Nossaman

“Everyone associated dance with me,” Paul said.

Paul had spent much of her pre-teen years focusing her identity around the sport. She was devastated when her coach quit unexpectedly and she lost dance altogether. Luckily, she found another passion despite her loss, track and field.

“When you sprint, you’re going too fast to think,” Paul said. “It was a way for me to let out my emotions the same way that dance was.”

---

Ryan Rinke

By Emilia McDaniel

Ryan Rinke has the instincts of a natural leader, taking over the room with just his presence. But there is more to him than what meets the eye.

Rinke, a transfer student from the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) has found a passion for photography and videography. This passion led him to explore the communications field.

Rinke has often been told he can command a room and talk with anyone, even though at times he sees these traits to be negative, he does find enjoyment in leadership positions.

“I like to pull the strings,” Rinke said.

He summarized his hopes and goal for his future in five simple words.

“I get money and die,” Rinke said. 

---

Emilia McDaniel

By Megan Mitchell

The lights shine down, and the sound of the roaring crowd surrounds Emilia McDaniel as she guides the ball across the field and passes it to one of her teammates. They score in the final minutes of the game. The crowd cheers and the teams meet at the sidelines to shake hands.

McDaniel is a sophomore at Grand View University, a soccer player and is studying English.

At a young age, the Altoona resident began playing soccer on her local team. She continued to play throughout high school at Southeast Polk Community School.

“It has become my entire life more or less,” McDaniel said.

But soccer has taken a toll on her.

“I tore both of my ACLs in high school and got those repaired and coming into

college I had meniscus surgery,” McDaniel said.

.While it is not easy, Emilia is ecstatic to be a part of the Vikings team.

“It can be a lot, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world,” McDaniel said.