I Before E Except After C...

I'm back. Back in the world of AP Style, little hand-held voice recorders, a building that smells like newsprint, and grammatical anal-retentiveness.

Yes, I'm a journalist once again.

For multiple reasons, I'm glad, but one in particular that has been driving me a little crazy ever since I left. I've almost been losing my touch, particularly with spelling. But now, I'm back "in-practice" so it's getting better.

I'm also glad that I get to write for a living once again. One of my biggest regrets when I left the newspaper and moved to Denver, was that I was giving up the opportunity to communicate via writing and photography full time. I often wondered if it was a huge mistake, letting that go. Now, thank goodness, I don't have to wonder.

My first week back has almost felt like I never left (besides the fact that I'm having to re-adjust to a Mac-based work environment and all the special key commands that come along with that). I'm right back in the swing of things, covering events and getting stories on the front page. And even though I'm the newest reporter, I definitely skipped that "peon" phase. This makes me quite glad.

I'm excited for future growth. If there is one thing I learned in my last job it's that I like to be challenged personally and professionally. In my last job my goal was to improve, streamline and goal-orient the work flow. I hope that this will be something I can bring to my job at the paper.

I love the task of problem-solving, of asking "How can this be better?" And though I'm just a reporter, I hope one day I can implement some of my ideas. The good thing about ideas is you can try them and if they don't work out, you can scrap them and come up with something new.

For now, I'm going to work on improving my writing, reporting and researching skills. If there is one thing I love, it's digging for background information. There is so much you can find out by searching online and talking to experts in the field. Then the challenge becomes getting that information out to people in a way that is appealing and easy to understand. Clarity is key.

So I'm back, back to writing and learning and growing. And hopefully, succeeding once again.