Vanguard Alumni Connection - April 2026

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The Alumni Connection - Will Bostwick

For Will Bostwick, Class of 2006, the path to journalism wasn’t straight or narrow.

For Will Bostwick, Class of 2006, the path to journalism wasn’t straight or narrow. It was winding and, at times, uncertain. But it’s that nonlinear journey that led him to where he is today: a staff writer and fact-checker at Texas Monthly, covering environmental and outdoor stories across the state.

“I feel like I’m finally in a job that makes a lot of sense to me,” Bostwick said. “All the other jobs — I was interested in them as an experience — but I didn’t necessarily see them as my long-term thing. This, I could.”

That clarity didn’t come overnight.

After graduating from Vanguard, Bostwick attended Sewanee — The University of the South — where basketball initially took center court in his life. But after a year of playing, he decided to step away. 

“I realized I was pretty interested in school and other things,” he said.

Bostwick said he was drawn to philosophy and the outdoors. He graduated in 2010 with a degree in philosophy — a discipline he said doesn’t come with a clear career roadmap.

Back in Waco, he briefly taught philosophy and writing at Rapoport Academy, energized by the chance to introduce high school students to topics like truth, freedom and meaning. 

“I was pretty fired up for it at the time,” Bostick said, “and when you have that level of enthusiasm, it's easy, I think, to get students interested in it.”

Even so, his future remained open-ended. He considered law school — his father is a lawyer — but a job at a Washington, D.C., law firm changed his perspective. Watching young attorneys navigate high-pressure careers, he realized the work wasn’t the kind of career he wanted. 

“They seemed more stressed and bored than excited and engaged,” he said.

So Bostwick went the opposite direction.

He worked on a ranch near Big Bend and took construction jobs in Austin in order to pay the bills. He applied to graduate philosophy programs — and got in — but ultimately chose not to go. And that’s when writing entered the picture.

“I never worked for the Vanguard paper or the Sewanee paper,” Bostwick said. “I didn’t really see myself as a journalist.” 

But while in Austin, he began freelancing, exploring nonfiction storytelling for the first time. That led him to a fellowship with Outside magazine — an opportunity he took despite the financial risk.

“I took a huge pay cut,” he said. “But I just kind of took the plunge.”

When the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted the fellowship, Bostwick returned to Austin and continued freelancing. Gradually, he built a steady stream of work with Outside and Texas Monthly, and eventually landed a staff position about two years ago. Today, he balances writing with fact-checking, a role that has shaped his approach to journalism.

“I want to be fair to each subject,” he said. “There’s often a narrative around people or issues, and I try to put that aside and use the facts that are in front of me.”

 

His recent work reflects that philosophy. One story, focused on replanting trees along the Guadalupe River after the devastating floods, felt especially personal. His longtime partner, Rachael Ashley, grew up in the affected area, and they were nearby when the flooding happened. 

“It all felt very close,” he said. “I wasn’t there for the immediate reporting on it, but I got to sort of step back [and bring] my expertise in the outdoor aspects of Texas to the story. It was a great experience and it's fun to do a positive story.”

Another piece took him to East Texas, where he spent months reporting on water rights, land use and generational ties to the land. The story required balancing complex policy issues with the human side of things.

“It felt like an opportunity to bring to bear some of the skills I’d developed over the years,” he said.

Journalism today exists in a complicated landscape, Bostwick said. Clicks and engagement now shape editorial decisions in ways that didn’t exist decades ago. Attention spans may be shrinking, but he believes there’s still a hunger for well-crafted storytelling.

“If it’s a well-written, engaging story, people seem to be willing to read it,” he said.

At Texas Monthly, that belief translates into a commitment to traditional reporting values, even as the industry evolves. The publication has also taken a clear stance on emerging technologies. 

“We have a policy against using AI to generate editorial content,” Bostwick said. “But I’ll use it for transcribing interviews.”

Ultimately, he sees journalism’s purpose as both simple and essential: seeking truth.

“Just trying to be a straight shooter,” he said. “Tell stories that are useful or mean something to people. Not being overly sentimental, but where there is feeling and sentiment, acknowledging that.”

That mindset traces back to his time at Vanguard. Bostwick remembers small classes, supportive teachers and an environment that encouraged curiosity. His AP English class with Paul Ritchie, in particular, sparked a lasting interest in literature. 

“I wasn’t a big reader until that point,” he said. “We read "Catcher in the Rye" and Kurt Vonnegut’s "Slaughterhouse-Five" and some books that broke through.”

Vanguard also fostered a sense of community and exploration, Bostwick said. 

“It felt like we were all looking out for each other,” he said. “And if you were interested in something, you had the opportunity to explore it.”

That openness to ideas, experiences and uncertainty became a defining trait of his journey.

Today, living in Austin with Rachael, his partner of more than a decade, and their cattle dog named Gil, Bostwick spends his free time running and biking local trails — still drawn to the outdoors that shaped so many of his choices.

“I think it’s important to be open to new opportunities,” he said.

 

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