Reflecting on my first year

by Stephanie Root
It's hard to believe as I sit writing this editorial that by the time this goes to press I will have been at the Mountain Home News for a year. I have an employment anniversary date that is impossible to forget. I started my first day of employment as the staff writer here on Sept. 11, 2017. It was a whirlwind of a day as the editor at the time was busy getting the post AFAD issue ready to go to press.
That evening it was "sink or swim" as I attended my first City Council meeting as a reporter. I got a quick introduction around the room by the mayor and couldn't help but feel relieved that I already knew a lot of the city employees in our small town. It was a lot less names I would have to memorize. I scribbled notes furiously as I meticulously wrote quotes and tried to decipher what would be pertinent to my first meeting article.
As I have mentioned previously I have always had a love for journalism and was terrified of not doing a good job. I had just spent seven years staying at home with my children. I felt so lucky that right as I was ready to re-enter the work force with my youngest headed to school full-time I had been offered a job in my dream career field.
I am happy to say that I am someone who goes to work happy to be doing my job every morning. From my days as a staff writer to my first few months as editor there hasn't been a day where I did not want to put my full effort into my work. There have been days where I may have wished I could stay home, sleep in or get some extra house work done, but never have I wished that I was doing anything else.
Not only have I spent this past year learning about the field of journalism, but this job has also taught me so much about our community.
I have said it many times, but I had no idea how much actually happens on a daily basis in this town. Everyday there are people hard at work behind the scene trying to make this a community that people want to live in and are proud to call their home.
Sometimes when I go around to different events and meetings I feel guilty that I am not more involved in different groups and happenings around town. Especially when I see the same faces everywhere I go.
I always tell myself that for one I am too busy covering all these people to actually join them and then I tell myself that I can't join in on a lot of the different groups because I have to cover them unbiasedly.
But truthfully most of those are just excuses for me to not have to do more, so in this next year I am going to make the effort to become more involved where I can in the community. I know there is a line I have to be careful with in order to keep an unbiased opinion for our readers, but that doesn't mean that I can't become involved in a parent organization or even with the Arts Council for that matter.
I have always been willing to give a hand if someone steps forward and asks me ( I have coached many different youth events over the years. Sometimes my children weren't even involved in the activities I helped with), but now it might be time to actually become involved with things from the start without being asked.
I want to thank our readers for being patient as I have learned this job on the fly. I know there have been some easily avoidable mistakes, but I hope you have seen an improvement each week. I will continue to learn everything I can to make our newspaper one you are happy to purchase every week.