…because tonight is my last night anchoring the weekend newscasts on WQAD.
NO, I’m NOT leaving (thank goodness) – just shifting my shift as we start something new at News 8…
News 8 at 9pm!
I promise this does NOT impact your favorite 9pm shows on WQAD/ABC. Trust me, I would have said “HECK NO” if anything stood in the way between me (and all of us, let’s be honest here) watching The Bachelor…
Instead, we will be launching a live half-hour newscast on My TV 8.3 starting (drum roll please…) Monday, January 4th, 2016 at 9pm SHARP (pun intended…with pride). It will air every day and I will be anchoring the show during the week – Mondays through Fridays. No Saturdays. No Sundays. No Weekends.
Of course, there were times where I wanted to be at the dinner/baby shower/bridal shower/wedding reception/birthday party/pool party/sporting event/[insert other fun Saturday or Sunday events here that don’t happen on Mondays or Tuesdays] instead of working the weekend. I tried my hardest not to miss important events in my family’s/friend’s lives… but I couldn’t make it to everything. I knew that. I have missed my nephew’s 2nd, 3rd, and 4th birthday parties. I’m not happy about that. However, as I sat in that chair on those nights where I was secretly wanting to be somewhere else, I also knew that this was part of the journey. I knew I had to put in the time. I knew that I had to work this shift to stay humble later in life. I knew that I had to work hard – no matter what day it was or what time of day – in order to hopefully someday be in the exact position I’m in now.
I actually really loved that job – and each one in between leading up to this one. I loved/love the people I work with, who are – without a doubt – the best news, weather, and sports team in the market and the region. I am very happy – and feel very #blessed – that I get to continue doing what I love to do right here. I’m not cleaning out my desk (even though it probably needs it). I’m not signing off for my last time tonight. I’m not teary-eyed or bitter. The best part about this whole thing is that I get to stay right where I believe I belong. The whole reason I wanted to be a Journalist and want to continue down that career path is because of this community. I fell in love with this job and this community at the exact same time… while I was a student at Augustana College interning at WQAD in 2007. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else telling and sharing stories and I know I wouldn’t be.
It’s the Quad Cities – its people, its causes, its spirit – that makes me love what I do and do what I love.
I hope you’ll tune in and support the all-new News 8 at 9pm. (That’s so much fun to – finally – type/say!) I have many friends (you know who you are) who are already looking forward to getting their news and weather an hour earlier because they struggle to stay awake until 10pm – ha! If you don’t have Mediacom or an antenna, you can easily live-stream the show through WQAD.com. I will be posting things on the My TV 8.3 Facebook Page as well in addition to my WQAD Facebook Page and Twitter Account (shameless plug).
– A
