Adieu to you, JJ!

As I'm cleaning out my desk and closing up shop here, I figured it may be a good time to update the world about my next rung on that career ladder of mine. Where this ladder goes, I'm not quite sure.

My ten months officially ends today at the Jersey Journal. Next Wednesday, I will cover various new towns a little further up north than where I'm at now. And will it be different. Oh, will it be different.

Coming from a high gang- and crime-infested city where homicides happen monthly and stabbings happen weekly, I'll be in for a change that's for sure. To the high-brow towns of Bergen County: what really is considered news up there? I guess I'll find out soon enough.

So, my time here...wow, where do I start? Being thrown into the newsroom (a.k.a. lion's den) as a newb, it's hard to grapple with the change in work environments and culture (especially since I came from corporate America). First of all, the dress code: jeans and a t-shirt is the uniform here. Enough said. Although I met deadlines daily and was stressed for a great deal of time here, it's expected and I have to confess I kind of liked that pressure where you could actually experience moments like the scenes you see in movies to "stop the presses!" or "breaking news!" It's adrenaline-pumping exciting to say the least..

Doe-eyed and eager as a beaver, I learned quick about reading between the lines (of quotes) and taking everything with a grain of salt. I was soft but now I'm hard (err, kinda). I was able to rack up reporting experiences that I wouldn't have been able to elsewhere in my position.

Some favorite memories reporting (in no particular order): when the plane crashed into the Hudson River, following the Naked Cowboy around, witnessing the rise and fall of former Secaucus mayor Dennis Elwell, the presidential elections when Obama won, writing the Behind the Bar column (a.k.a. boozing and shmoozing and some wining and dining, don't mind if I do!), protests and gang fights, and my very own grafitti work dedicated to me..

But most of all, when I was at the midpoint of my stay here and still trying to adjust and wondering if I would ever be able to get the hang of all this or if I was even cut out for this industry--I received a pleasant surprise. I received First Place in the Arts & Entertainment category for the New Jersey Press Association. Working with such talented reporters and writers, it was completely unexpected. But it gave me reassurance.

It was affirmation that, hey, maybe I can do this. Maybe this is what God had in store for me all along. And so, I stand before another act of affirmation with a new reporting gig in a new county with benefits. Another step, another rung!