Going for the Green: I feel like I’m fresh out of college, again

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I feel young again. I’m currently in the fourth day with my new position as sports writer here at the Newton Daily News, and I feel like I’m just stumbling out of college into the real world again. Just forget the fact that I’m 24 years old and might be developing a receding hairline. I graduated from Simpson College in May of 2006, and I took my first job as a sports writer with another Shaw Newspaper (same company as Newton) in Creston. After spending 21⁄2 years there covering high school and community college athletics, I decided to make a change. And I feel like I’m starting from scratch, again. It’s always an adventure when you move to a new town where you know hardly anyone and take up roots in a community that you know very little about. Thankfully, I’m just 24 years old, and I can adapt well. I did my first team photos Tuesday at Lynnville-Sully and met my first groups of kids and coaches. It was nice to get out to the schools that I’ll get to cover and get a feeling for everyone. Here in Newton, my primary beats are Lynnville-Sully, Colfax-Mingo and PCM, along with the Iowa Speedway. I’m looking forward to getting to know people in these communities, but now it’s time to get to know me. • I’m an Iowa State fan. I didn’t go there, but I still love the Cyclones. I’ll admit that they’re struggling right now in multiple sports, but it’s all cyclical. • I’m an avid golfer. During the spring, summer and fall, I’ll play two times a week and I’m not afraid to take a little drive somewhere. I’ve played over 200 golf courses in the state, and I look forward to some new ones in this region of the state. • When I have free time and take vacation days, I do like to travel. In college, I traveled overseas to Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Iceland, and I also took spring break trips to places like Rhode Island. I’ve already been to Charleston, S.C., Indianapolis to the Indy 500 and western New York state this year, and next year will be no different. Despite the poor economy, I’ll still try to get to Rhode Island (where a former college roommate lives) and San Diego as well. • I’m one of those people that is very laid back, and I like to joke around. I do have a serious side, but it rarely comes out. Usually I’m kind of quiet at first, but it’s because I’m trying to read you and figure out how I should act around you. I can poke fun, and I want to make sure you can handle what I’m dishing out. • As far as what you’ll see from me in print, it’s pretty simple — I like to mix it up. One week I’ll write about something politically correct and the next week I’ll push the envelope when it comes to opinion columns. Change is a good thing, and sometimes you don’t create change until you boil the pot a little. I don’t mind ruffling a few feathers here and there, and I did my share of that in Creston. And it actually prompted change. The tennis courts in town were awful, and I called them on it. A week later, there was a meeting and now this fall, new tennis courts were built in the community. It wasn’t solely me, but I was told that I helped get the ball rolling on a stagnant issue in the community. • Getting involved in the community is something I do enjoy. I was a board member at the local YMCA in Creston, so that was always an interesting thing. I was definitely the youngest person on the board by give-or-take 10 years, but it was a great learning experience for me. But first and foremost, I’m here because I love sports. I’ll try just about anything. I even did a half-marathon last month and I really enjoyed it. I’m probably going to do a full marathon in two years. There are a select few sports that I totally don’t watch (NBA or NHL), but we all have our sports we like and sports we dislike. It’s just like a job. There are things we like and things we despise.