Cornfields never looked so good

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Well, I’m back in Ohio.

I grew up in northeastern Ohio, but for the past year I’ve been in Roswell, New Mexico reporting for the Roswell Daily Record.

When I was younger, I hated Ohio. I hated how boring Medina was, I hated the winter and I hated the cornfields.

When applying for jobs, we were in the midst of one of the worst winters. It was 30 below and Bowling Green State University (my alma mater) closed three or four times because of the weather, which never happens.

I told my parents that I was done with Ohio and I was moving out of the state. No more snow or cold for me, I said.

I was so excited when I got the call from Roswell. New Mexico’s temperatures in May were 100. It was sunny, not a cloud in the sky. I was ready.

My fiancé and I decided we were ready for the adventure and we jumped in.

We had no furniture. We had no apartment. My fiancé had a job at Pizza Hut lined up, but he wasn’t that excited about it.

We jumped in, clueless.

It was probably one of the craziest things I’ve done in my life, but it was so worth it.

We had such a great time living in Roswell. Sure, it was secluded (Albuquerque and El Paso are the nearest towns and they are both three hours away) but it was a cool town.

After being there for almost a year, my fiancé and I returned to Cleveland to visit our family and friends.

Boy, was that a mistake.

We realized how much we missed everyone. Going from being able to see our friends and family every day to once a year was rough. Going from being right down the road from our family to 1,500 miles away was rough.

The day after we got home I started applying for jobs. We had discussed moving back to Ohio, or the Midwest in general, on the flight back. We both knew that Roswell wasn’t right for us anymore.

The Wilmington News Journal was actually one of the first jobs I applied for May 31. Yes, I still know the date. I have a pretty good memory when it comes to dates. The job was also my top choice.

I applied for the job that Sunday and was pretty much in limbo until June 24. That was the most stressful 24 days of my life.

But then I got the call from Tom Barr, the editor of WNJ, and was overjoyed. My fiancé and I started packing up that day and basically had our whole apartment packed up by Saturday (Tom called me on Wednesday).

We raced through the country and were here July 11 (we left July 9). Before moving we found the most adorable duplex in Wilmington, which we moved into July 12. I started at WNJ July 15.

While I have only been back in Ohio for a little more than a week, I am so happy. I never thought I would miss the Buckeye State, since I hated it so much during my childhood, but I did.

Driving on 73, passing all the cornfields, I kept telling my fiancé, “Oh my God! Corn! I missed corn!”

I never thought I would say that.

While we are not in northeastern Ohio, I am happy. I love Wilmington so far, as it reminds me of my hometown Medina, and my fiancé’s hometown, Ashland.

I love WNJ and the people that work here.

I am so ready to start reporting here and bring the news to you, readers. If you ever have any tips or any interesting stories you think would make a good feature, let me know. I want to hear from you.

Dylanne Petros is a reporter for the News Journal.

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Dylanne Petros

Contributing Columnist

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