PEEDING THROUGH LIFE

S PEEDING THROUGH LIFE

NEAL H OGDEN EDITOR

Coming back to central Wisconsin is not something I thought would happen. I am a 2013 graduate of Colby High School and spent my childhood growing up about eight miles west of Colby.

I left high school unsure of what I wanted to do and struggled early in college. I tried the medical field, engineering, and I struggled with being engaged in classes related to those fields. I decided to take my school career to Winnebago County and UW-Oshkosh where I got my bachelor’s degree in journalism.

I didn’t think I’d ever want to be a writer or work at a newspaper but after spending time with the fantastic people of The Advance-Titan, UW-Oshkosh’s independent, student-run newspaper, I knew that journalism was the career choice for me.

Life brought me back to central Wisconsin as my fiance Kaitlyn took a job on the Cancer floor at Marshfield Clinic Health System Hospital. We bought a house and got engaged in July of 2020 and I took a job in Marshfield.

After working a year and a half for a Marshfield media company, I decided it was time to return to newspapers and more importantly, my hometown.

I have high expectations set for myself with the Tribune but one goal stands above the rest; don’t disappoint my high school English teachers.

Journalism and writing in general is a field that requires perfection but rarely does that happen. Understanding that writing about topics and cities we’ve been removed from will be a learning process but the quest for perfection begins now.

In the first few days of working at the Tribune, it’s been amazing to see the reception we’ve received from community members, school boards, city workers and staff in other departments within the company.

I can tell the level of care for the community will be a benefit to me as a writer and to the community as we all work together to keep the public informed and honest.

There’ll be lots of learning to go around for myself and my partner in all of this, Nathaniel Underwood. Learning about the paper itself, the cities of Abbotsford, Colby, Curtiss, Unity and Dorchester as well as the surrounding area will take time. Kevin O’Brien and Ross Patterman were some of the better reporters and writers in the small-town newspaper industry, so we’ve got some big shoes to fill.

The Tribune is in a great place and we will do our best to keep building on the progress that those two gentlemen created.

That being said, if anyone has any story ideas or things they might want covered in the Tribune, feel free to give me a call at the office at 715-223-2342 or shoot me an email at nealhogden@tpprinting. com.