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The Sharp Side on WEEKEND REFLECTION: Good Morning Quad Cities!

It was November 30, 2009. Actually, no. It was 11pm on November 29, 2009 that I began my actual career at WQAD News 8. I remember saying goodbye to my best frie...
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It was November 30, 2009. Actually, no. It was 11pm on November 29, 2009 that I began my actual career at WQAD News 8. I remember saying goodbye to my best friend and then-roommate, Amber, before driving to the station for my very first shift as a WQAD News 8 Employee, not an Intern. It was my very first third shift too, which I knew was going to be… interesting. What’s more… interesting, I was starting at WQAD News 8 as a Producer – not a Reporter, as was my goal going into this business. However, I realized soon into my Journalism Career that to be great at one thing, you have to also be good at many things and I liked the idea of producing a newscast… especially if it was a newscast like Good Morning Quad Cities and especially if it was at a station like WQAD News 8, which is where I spent two internships while studying at Augustana College. All my life, I knew I wanted to do something in Journalism. It wasn’t until I was an Intern at WQAD News 8 that I realized just how badly I wanted it and how hard I would work to get there… to get here.

I spent about 10 months as a Producer for Good Morning Quad Cities. I loved every minute of it. Well, not every minute – let’s be honest – but I loved the newscast, I loved my colleagues, and I loved being part of something bigger than just a minute or two. However, when a Nightside Reporter position opened up and they asked if I wanted it – I took it. I was ready to get back in the field and start storytelling again. Plus, it would get me on a better sleep schedule and since I was now living with my then-boyfriend – who would later become my husband, Zach – that was a plus.

That plus lasted all of 3 months before I was back on Good Morning Quad Cities – ha! It was January 17, 2011 – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Only this time – I was a Reporter, not a Producer. I had a lot of improving to do when it came to live shots and this shift was perfect for that – 6, sometimes 7 live shot opportunities a day. My amazing photographer, Drew, and I basically lived in our live truck. For more than a year and a half, I got to report for the newscast that meant so much to me… the newscast that jumpstarted my career.

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In addition, during those months, I got engaged to Zach, planned my dream wedding in the Quad Cities, started my first blog “Wedding Wednesdays,” and went from “Angie Mitchum – WQAD – News 8” to “Angie SHARP – WQAD – News 8” – which I messed up plenty. I’m sure for awhile, viewers were wondering who this “Angie Mit-Sharp” was! Those are months that hold a lot of meaning to me. I don’t have a very good memory, but I have a lot of memories of that chapter in my life and career.

Now… almost four years to the day that I left Good Morning Quad Cities to go back to nightside reporting for a few months, then weekend anchoring for a few years, then evening anchoring this year, I am returning to GMQC – again! This time – as an Anchor, not as a Reporter… or as a  Producer… or as an Intern. At 4:30am on September 26, 2016, I will get to say something I’ve dreamed about for quite some time – “Good Morning Quad Cities. I’m Angie Sharp.” – while sitting in a spot where I feel more comfortable than anywhere else in the world, or at least it feels that way. Julie Sisk and I are switching shifts, so please know that she has not left WQAD News 8. Also, please know that I know – more than you know, ha – that I have big shoes to fill on GMQC. I do not take this switch – or any switch I’ve ever been apart of in the last 7 years at WQAD News 8 – lightly. For me, the amount of excitement I feel is matched by the amount of determination and stress – good stress – I feel as well, but I know that I’ve worked really hard and I am ready for the challenge. It is – without sounding too cliche or cheesy – a dream come true. A dream I thought would take a lot longer to achieve when I drove to the station late at night on November 29, 2009.

I hope you will tune in – maybe not as early as 4:30am (although if you do, I need you to email me right now!), but perhaps at 5am or even 6:45am. If not then, see you for those four quick cut-ins during Good Morning America or at 11am! I hope you will continue to rely on Good Morning Quad Cities and WQAD News 8 as your way of getting the best news, weather, and sports in the QCA… any time of day. In my nearly 7 years here, I have never been more confident in saying that right now – we have the best team ever.

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Plus, we have Baby Abram – News 8’s Denise Hnytka’s baby boy – who is basically the cutest “mascot” a station could ask for…

Oh yeah – and Zuno. Sorry Zuno.

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I also hope you will stay connected with me! I know I haven’t been blogging a lot lately and that’s because it’s been a strange few months outside of work. However, I’m ready to start sharing some of that “stuff” with you in the coming weeks and months – everything from how I’m meal prepping for a 3am-Noon shift (hint: bacon), to being diagnosed with an auto-immune disease this summer (hint: I’m okay), to the simple things in my life – and in the Quad Cities – I’m thankful for every day (hint: scroll up and read all this again).

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I can’t wait for tomorrow morning, which is probably why I won’t get a minute of sleep tonight. I better try though. So… before I say “Good Morning Quad Cities,” let me say – and this may be the last time for awhile – “Good Night Quad Cities.”

And, most importantly, thank you.

– A

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