Saying Goodbye to 2022

This has been quit the year.

I started 2022 as the editor of a daily newspaper in western Nebraska. We had lost our publisher a couple months earlier and a those of us on the leadership team were trying to keep everything moving forward. A publisher came in and I was introducing him around and trying to make his transition as smooth as possible. Then, on a Sunday night, I got a call from the HR director and one of the company big wigs informing me that my job had been eliminated.

All of a sudden, I was out of work. My wife also worked for the paper and she too was let go on the same call.

“Please come in tomorrow morning, before anyone arrives, and clear out your office,” I was told. No goodbye to the team I’d built, or the co-workers I’d worked alongside to make the paper the top award winning paper in the state. Nothing to our readers. No explanations to anyone, just get your stuff and go.

What followed was a struggle of trying to wrap my head around the fact, “I’m unemployed.” There was frustration, anger, heartbreak, and lots of unknowns.

I learned about the unemployment system and got pretty good at looking for and applying for jobs.

The search drove home one thing most on the editorial side of newspapers know, but those on top seem to ignore, pay is terrible for anyone in or looking to get into the editorial side of the news industry. It needs to be addressed, but probably won’t be.

In my search there was one thing I made sure of, and that was not to apply at any large corporate newspaper company papers. Been there, done that, and will never return.

I did receive a number of job offers, many sounded like they would be a good fit, but nothing was the right fit. All would require a major move, which was something my wife and I really didn’t want to do. After spending most of our adult lives in one area, it’s hard to pack up and move. We have friends, family, a good church, and a newly remodeled home. We are invested in western Nebraska.

So, as I kept looking, we prayed and prayed.

Then out of nowhere, a job opportunity arose at a small community college in Torrington, Wyoming. Only 40 miles from my home. I applied and was offered a job as the College Relations Director. Less hours, less stress, more pay, and for the most part, better benefits. There was also, no need to move.

It was an answer to prayer.

So now I’m leading the marketing team at Eastern Wyoming College. I get to use my journalism skills, my design skills, and my leadership skills to help guide the direction of the college, recruit new students, and mentor work study students from around the world.

This coming year I will start work on a Masters in Communication degree, with the goal of one-day teaching. A Masters is something I’ve wanted to pursue for a long time, now I can make it a reality.

In Jeremiah 29:11 we are told, “I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

This last year I watched this verse come to life in my life. God’s plan was different than mine. He closed a door and then opened a more prosperous one. Prosperous not just in money, but in so many other ways. And today, my future is looking very bright.

As I say “goodbye to 2022” I’m excited to see what 2023 has in store.