How do you write a goodbye column, exactly?
There’s no template, and it’s probably easier for some people than for others. For me, it’s difficult for a couple of reasons. I struggled with what to write here, or whether to even write this at all.
But Emporia, its surrounding area and the sports scene I’ve covered have been too good to me. Leaving without some kind of goodbye wouldn’t be appropriate. So here goes.
This weekend, I’ll cover the Emporia State-Central Missouri football game, my last assignment for The Gazette. Then on Monday, I’ll start a new job as a product developer at a company in the Kansas City area. It’s a move that gets me back to where I came from, to a place I love, where family and friends are waiting for me.
To illustrate what almost three years in Emporia have meant to me, you need to understand where I came from immediately before I arrived.
When I accepted a job at The Gazette in late 2007, I was in the midst of a semi-organized move to Portland, Ore., where I had a couple of friends and no job waiting for me. The move was predicated on a philosophy that went something like, “I’m young, you can only do this sort of thing when you’re young, and I want to live in Portland. Things will work themselves out. They have to.”
Long story short, the move went so spectacularly well that about three weeks in, I was living in a North Portland motel for 250 bucks a week, grasping for a next move that wasn’t there. I was running out of money and time. I kept looking for jobs in Oregon, and back in Kansas, hoping something would emerge before I got submerged.
When The Gazette was able to quickly offer me a job as a news reporter, I essentially had three options: 1) take the job, 2) head back to KC and move in with my mom, or 3) risk becoming yet another homeless person in Oregon, the state that the Department of Housing and Urban Development pegged as having the highest percentage of homeless residents in 2008.
After almost three years here in Emporia, with two of them spent covering sports, there’s no doubt in my mind that I made the right choice.
I mean, watching Rick Bloomquist get a technical foul — and then getting to write about it — beats the heck out of going Patriot Act on a trash bin to unearth my next meal.
If the choice is watching the Olpe girls basketball team complete an undefeated season with at least two future NCAA players, or scrawling “Please Help” on a slab of cardboard and standing by a highway onramp... yeah, I’ll take watching the Green Machine.
Cover the best wrestling team in Class 5A, or have my worried mother grilling me about why I didn’t call to tell her I’d be home at 3:30 in the morning? You get the idea.
So Emporia became my sanctuary — sanctuary from a life choice that didn’t work out, and from next steps that I could only consider stumbles. Emporia introduced me to new friends, new perspectives on life, and athletes, coaches and others who I’ll remember fondly for the rest of my life.
So my parting thanks to Emporia is multi-fold. There are a lot of things I could say thank you for, but I’ll just boil it down to three:
Thank you for giving me so many intriguing teams and athletes to cover. Thank you for being such a nice community with such nice people. And last, but not least — thanks for keeping me off the streets.
kuSportsPA (anonymous) says...
This is ridiculous... Usually a great writer, while I understand this was supposed to be humorous, it's more so offensive. Glad you preferred having a job over being homeless. But isn't that generally how it works. For a better way of writing a goodbye column, please refer to that of your predecessor Jesse Newell, who actually got a better job, still in the field of sports reporting. Good luck in the future.
September 9, 2010 at 1:27 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
oh4theluvof (anonymous) says...
I didn't find it offensive at all. It was making an exaggerated comparison for humor, that's all.
Joey, good luck and glad we could help! ☺
September 9, 2010 at 3:59 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
genxer (anonymous) says...
We should put that on a sign as you drive into town: Live and Work in Emporia, better than digging in the trash bin for your next meal!
September 10, 2010 at 7:09 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
LOL. That was funny too, genxer.
I too enjoyed this humorous view, Joey Berlin. I'm glad you found some worth in your experience here, and I'm glad you found something that allows you to go back home again. That's not always true of many. Look in on us once in awhile, bickering and back-biting on the forum. And remember, you can't please all the people...you know the rest.
September 10, 2010 at 7:56 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mslater (Matt Slater) says...
"And remember, you can't please all the people"
Especially us! Haha!
Matt
September 10, 2010 at 8:12 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
neighbor (anonymous) says...
Happy trails Joey, good luck in your future.
September 10, 2010 at 1:42 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )