A farewell to Holyoke

Honestly, I wish I could drag this city behind me and visit it on the regular.

As many of you have heard through the grapevine, I’m set to head out in June. This isn’t because I have a problem with Holyoke; I actually rather like it here. The people almost across the board are friendly and willing to work together, there’s a church where you can drink coffee during the service and play ping pong (not during the service), and I got to perform in a “War of the Worlds” radio drama where my role – naturally, a reporter – built to a solid 10 seconds of terror and intermittent screeching before I was mercifully barbecued by aliens. 

Speaking of which, that barbecue place? Also pretty good.

My issue arrives in the article-writing process: In short, I take too long. Getting from the title of the editorial to this sentence has been a two-hour-long process requiring consistent mental effort. Sometimes, I can write significantly faster, but I always stay late at least twice a week, and work often spills into Saturdays or Sundays.

Some people can do this job quickly; working solo, I am not one of them.

That stated, the articles and photos I have added to The Holyoke Enterprise pages rank among my best in more than seven years of journalism. Starting with the mayor’s funeral – my first day, by the way – I’ve had the opportunity to delve into a surprisingly tense story of missing cattle, profiles of up-and-coming business leaders, an experimental medical technique first tested by our local hospital, the application of gender identity legislation in schools and a fire training put on by Black Hills Energy that – despite the article containing a factual error, see Page 2 – gave me the chance to snap two of my favorite photos. Ranking last week’s front-page picture, which shows firefighters dousing a burning car, against my entire photo history, I’d place it among the top three.

Moving forward, I need to figure out a role in which I can both avoid extraterrestrial heat rays, and achieve a stronger balance between my work and social lives. Beginning my journalism career, I would power through workweeks often lasting upwards of 80 hours; a decade later, I’ve cut it back to around 60, but realize — if I want to function well on a social level – this is not a route in which to travel endlessly.

But while I’m off devising a new career path, be sure to welcome the new editor: Jerel Domer. Newspaper work is a tough job and breaking into it can prove daunting. From what I’ve seen, though, he seems up to the task.

Thanks for all your support; you’ve been good humans.