I hope you like what you’re seeing so far

If you’ve made it this far into the paper, I hope it means you’re liking what you’ve seen so far.

Any of you from Janesville may recognize me from the Janesville Journal and already know I have a column called “Mike’s Corner” in it. Folks from other towns may not know me as well. So, I want to take some time to introduce myself and tell you how I started my journey into becoming a business owner with NRHEG Star Eagle publisher Eli Lutgens.

Let’s start at the beginning. I was born in Mankato and lived there for about five years. When my parents divorced, my dad stayed in Mankato while my mom, my siblings, and I bopped between Mankato and various area towns. We lived in Madison Lake, then moved back into Mankato, then to St. Clair, and then back to Mankato. My mom and I finally settled in Janesville in 2006. 

In mid-April of this year, I had called Janesville my home for almost 16 years before getting my first apartment, located in New Richland. Despite having moved, however, I still consider Janesville home—unless the listener doesn’t know where Janesville is; then I just say it’s Mankato.

When I graduated from JWP in 2016, I began attending Gustavus Adolphus College with the intention of acquiring a degree in music with an emphasis on composition. I loved rock music, and also wanted to compose pieces for wind orchestra and symphony orchestra. But after two and a half years, God had other plans. I couldn’t afford to keep going to Gustavus. Of course I had known it would be expensive, since it’s a private college. But I hadn’t realized it would get to the point of bankrupting me or my parents.

So there I was in February of 2019, no longer attending college with no job and no money. I felt like an abject failure. I thought I had ruined my life by making poor financial decisions and that I was going to be stuck with a job that I’d hate the rest of my life. I felt as if I had set myself back dozens of steps.

So, how did I come to be here, on the pages of the new Waseca County Pioneer?

I’m going to be real with you. I had no intention of going into the newspaper business. Even when I thought about making writing a career, newspapers never entered my mind. It just…kind of happened. The Janesville Journal was looking for writers one day, and a family friend who knew the publisher there knew that I could write. From there, I went from being a college dropout to being a prolific writer. 

Now, I’m going to be a part owner in this new endeavor. It’s nearly dizzying how quickly it all happened despite the months of preparation it took to get to this point, sharing a product we take genuine pride in.

People say the newspaper business is dying: I used to believe it myself. After some consideration, though, I’ve come to believe that if papers are dying, it’s because they don’t reflect the activities, personality and character which make their communities unique.

From our bustling county seat to our smallest town, the Pioneer has opportunities to seek out untold stories. And that’s what we want to do: We want to provide a quality paper that will not only help the community see what it has to be proud of, but will stand the test of time.

I am excited for this next step in my journey. And we at the Waseca County Pioneer are excited to provide various pieces of content that you, the reader, can enjoy. Sit back and enjoy as we bring you everything from columns like this one to business spotlights, from human interest to area government and politics.

Thank you for joining us: This is going to be one fun ride.