My First Medium Story
As the saying goes, here goes nothing
It’s been 10 months since I’ve been on Medium. Not as a reader (I read articles on here like it’s going out of style!), but as a writer. In fact, this story is built off the draft that has been sitting in my profile for the past 10 months.
The thing I get stuck with is where to begin. At this point, I’m going to wing it and see what happens.
First, I’m a Midwest Wisconsin woman navigating her own way. I grew up in a small rural community in Mineral Point, WI. If you Google this community, you may come across articles dubbing Mineral Point as “the City where Wisconsin began.” If we’re going to be technical, Mineral Point was the third community named when Wisconsin earned its statehood.
I’m a writer. The title “writer” is going to look different for many. How writing applies to me is no exception. I’ve always loved writing since I was a kid. My parents often found me in my bedroom with a simple notebook. I wish I would’ve held on to those notebooks, as I’m curious to know what I was thinking during those “writing sessions.”
Now if we look at writing on a “professional” level, I worked at a weekly print newspaper that occupied the Greater Iowa County, Wisconsin. During my four-year tenure: I covered two major crime stories, and countless city government and school board meetings. I also covered your obvious human interest stories focusing on new businesses forming, survivors overcoming obstacles, and the occasional gala events that took place.
I remember March 13 2020 like it was yesterday. I was just getting done with a headlining court case that involved a stepson killing his stepfather when a jury determined he was acting in self-defense. For two years he had been fighting for his freedom-only to learn that an international pandemic would shut down the communities. I navigated what the pandemic was like for our local communities, all while cooped away in my home. At the time I had been living with my parents in our large farmhouse.
Fast forward six months later, and I went through one of the toughest moments of my life. Losing my father at the age of 57. I had just turned 30 two months prior to his passing. Unfortunately, he made the decision to end his life-while I have my guesses as to why I’ll never honestly know. It’s something my dad took with him.
That loss taught me that I wasn’t truly happy where I was at. While I loved writing and sharing stories about our local community, I felt like I was always reporting on problems and not being part of a solution.
In the early spring of 2021, I made the decision to change my career and go back to school. Prior to my journalism career, I earned my bachelor’s degree in Agriculture Business from UW-Platteville in 2013.
I am in my second year at Western Kentucky University, currently pursuing my Bachelor’s in Social Work. I plan to graduate in 2024. Being a mental health advocate has always been close to my heart and so my articles are a way to combine my passions for writing and mental health.
If there are things you’d like to know about me, or if you have suggestions on what I should write-feel free to direct me or send a message. I’m also open to responses to this article with future topics to discuss.
I’ve wanted to write again. I’m deciding to just do it. I look forward to seeing what happens.
