I'll be honest.

It's something that I am sometimes too good at, and tends to get me into trouble.

But I have to be. I never thought I would write one of these columns, because I generally leave this section to the more creative writers that will make you laugh. Make you cry. Make you smile. All that wonderful stuff they went to classes for (honestly, I think being a creative writer is a gift though, not something you learn) while I was taught how to be as boring, to the point and simple as possible.

I am writing one though--for the pure fact that I am discovering what I actually love about Broad Ripple--and that I miss more than anything at the moment.

Community. I feel as though the one aspect listed above is something that is slowly being chipped away in my life.

Why? I guess I had to "grow up." I thought I would enjoy this. I pretend most of the time that I do. But sometimes, I really don't.

Don't get me wrong. I do enjoy my new job, but there was something rather special about being in the Village 24/7. Everywhere I went, I knew someone, and there was always someone to talk to or somebody to see.

The longer I work for the Gazette, the more I realize the importance of "community," especially in the world of journalism.

I love the fact that when I actually am in Broad Ripple, I see people reading the Gazette on a regular basis, and I love that a smile immediately comes to my face. I recognize now that this is the kind of paper people want to read--something that connects directly to their daily lives.

We know our boundaries. I don't believe there is enough money in our budget to send me over as an embedded reporter (although this is something that I would love to do), but we can--and need to--get that news from other sources. The media market is saturated with those kinds of stories.

But newspapers are slowly becoming a thing of the past. Even smaller cities are beginning to lose their daily coverage and becoming mere circulation numbers of the big city dailys that may be located almost an hour away from them.

Those newspapers, might I add, that won't hire me.

So while I miss numerous things about being present in Broad Ripple, I LOVE that the community has embraced the Gazette some much. I love that all of my closest friends are always ready to help me with a story, or come up with their own ideas for the paper.

This is what I know I will never find in another newspaper: the chance, at the mere age of 22 (23 in about two weeks) to make crucial decisions that will affect what an entire community will read. The chance to work with people I love on fun stories or meet new and interesting people while working on new stories.

Maybe one day my name will be on the front page of The Chicago Tribune. But right now, I feel truly lucky to be doing what I am doing, even if I still have to continue "growing up."