A reporter's journey to the Pioneer

Four years ago, I had just finished my freshman year at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. I had just been accepted into the Hubbard School of Journalism and was looking forward to beginning real journalism classes in the fall. I had also been accepted and invited to work with Eli Lutgens at the New Richland Star Eagle. 

 

The way I came around to that was a conglomerate of things. First, I had applied to be a part of the internship program with the Minnesota Valley Action Council, where they were helping me to find an internship within Waseca while also helping me with things such as interviewing and preparing for a job. I had first asked to be a part of the Waseca County News, the only Waseca newspaper at the time. After some inquiries and questioning, my advisor decided the County News wasn’t going to work out. 

 

I had, however, been contacted by one of the Waseca High School English teachers at the time. She knew that I was going to school for journalism and forwarded Eli’s contact information, as he had emailed her about looking for young reporters to help start a new newspaper in Waseca. 

 

So I reached out. 

 

Lucky for me, Eli was interested. As everything fell into place, it turned out I would not only be contributing to the Star Eagle, I would also be part of the team which got the Waseca County Pioneer up and running.  

 

The rest is history. I started my journey in newspapers doing the same menial task Eli had done when he started out–”tear sheets.” This is something most newspaper readers have no reason to concern themselves with: After each edition is printed, many copies of the paper are torn apart, and advertisers are sent the “sheets” (more generally referred to as “pages”) as proof their advertisements appeared. It’s a simple but important task which, with a little training, almost anyone could do. Fortunately, Eli saw enough promise in me to advance me to more and more of the tasks needed to run a newspaper. I learned billing, putting together photo pages, and writing my own stories. 

 

As the Pioneer was growing to become more and more real, the first publication date looming, I got more involved with that. Helping get the new office ready, contacting area churches to put together the information about locations and service times, even running the newspaper’s booth at the fair, a perfect place to call attention to our new publication. 

I like to think there are little parts of me everywhere, intertwined within the Pioneer. I took the picture that is now the banner at the top of each front page, the one of a person fishing on Clear Lake. I painted the current office, the former Ward House Brewery. And now, I’m the person who assembles and designs the graphic appearance of the paper: Using a computer program, I put the stories and headlines in place, fitting the puzzle pieces together. 

 

Every year of college, I expected something to come along which would pull me away from my work with the Pioneer family and from my summer job in Waseca. But nothing was ever as good as this. And every year I found myself coming back, despite always saying I never intended to live in Waseca. 

 

Here I am, four years later, grateful for every opportunity and every learning moment presented to me. As time went on, I learned more and more about the way the Pioneer works and took on more complex tasks, eventually working my way from reporter to editorial assistant and soon, editor. 

 

Thank you to Eli for deciding to take a chance on a college freshman. And for continuing to offer chances to grow and learn. Thank you to Deb for all your kind words of wisdom and support, and for always putting a smile on my face. Thank you Ben for being a great reporter to work with. 

 

And thank you, reader, for sticking with everything this paper and I have gone through. For deciding to continue to read my sometimes wild and crazy thoughts as a young 21-year-old journalist making it through life. 

 

My Determination: “I have hated words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right.” ― Markus Zusak, The Book Thief