Guest Column: Realization of a long-time dream

Chances are if you called the Havre Daily News during the last 15-plus years, I was the one who answered your call. During my 17 years at the newspaper, I have answered the phone thousands of times helping customers and directing telephone calls to my fellow employees. If you dropped off a payment or came in the office looking for an end roll, I was probably the one who assisted you. Over the years, I got to know by name many of our regular customers especially those who came in monthly to pay for their Havre Daily News subscriptions. I prided myself in knowing our customers’ names and assisting them with a smile upon my face.

Since the Havre Daily News has a small staff, employees are often called upon to assist in other departments when co-workers are absent. During my tenure at the Havre Daily News, I have placed classified ads, helped hand-insert newspapers, and even wrote a few articles when the editorial staff was desperately short-handed. I became an expert at multi-tasking and problem solving as I worked hard to ensure the efficient day to day operations of the Havre Daily News office.

When I started working part-time at the Havre Daily News in February 1999 I had no idea that I would spend the next 17 years working at my hometown newspaper. When I began my employment at the Havre Daily News, I was a fresh-faced college graduate with a bachelor’s degree in history from Smith College who dreamed of being a history teacher. My job in the circulation department was supposed to be temporary until I found my first teaching job, not knowing at the time how elusive that job would prove to be. 

My part-time job at the Havre Daily News became full-time, and I kept working at the paper year after year. My job allowed me the flexibility to serve as my mother’s caretaker when chronic health issues limited her mobility. My job also provided me with the opportunity to watch my nieces grow. My employer allowed me to return to school at Montana State University-Northern while still working full-time and I earned a second bachelor’s degree, in business administration, as well as a master’s degree in education. My co-workers supported me emotionally when I lost my mother in 2013. 

Even as I continued working at the newspaper, I never completely abandoned my dream of becoming a teacher. Each August I would lament the fact that another school year was starting without me realizing my dream of teaching. I decided this spring that I would once again try to find a teaching job. I applied with the Chester-Joplin-Inverness Schools for their opening for a social studies teacher and was offered the position after my interview. I accepted the position knowing it would mean the end of my employment at the Havre Daily News.

Today is my last day at the Havre Daily News. I will miss my co-workers, customers and the familiarity of my day-to-day routine. At the same time I am excited to start my teaching career. Since I was a child I have wanted to be a teacher and I am finally realizing my dream. I am not abandoning the Havre Daily News altogether. I plan to participate in the Newspapers in Education — NIE — program offered by the Havre Daily News and use newspapers as part of my social studies curriculum. 

 Local newspapers such as the Havre Daily News play a valuable role in the communities along the Hi-Line by informing the public and holding public officials accountable for their actions. I am proud to have worked for the Havre Daily News and have no doubt that my co-workers will continue to produce a paper that best serves the needs of north-central Montana residents.