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Intersections: Different dateline, same feeling of home

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I was a year out of journalism school when I plucked up the courage to submit my resume to an opening for a reporting position at the Glendale News-Press. The journalism industry was rapidly changing for the worse at the time and nothing ever came of my efforts to secure a full-time position, but a year after that disappointment, when I had settled into a position at a digital media company, I snagged my first freelance byline for the GNP.

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Seeing my name in the paper I grew up reading was the most indescribable feeling, one that I will most likely never forget. I don’t even remember what the story was about, but I knew in that moment that journalism and writing was what I meant to pursue.

Since that time, I’ve written feature stories, blog posts and a few breaking news headlines for the GNP, and for the last four years I’ve had the opportunity to write this column.

I was apprehensive at first to begin a series where I was had the space to express my own feelings about Glendale and beyond. For me, journalism was about sharing other people’s stories and staying objective, not telling people how I felt.

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What could I possibly have to say that could add to the conversation? It took many challenging months to finally find my rhythm, to feel comfortable writing about my own experiences, but since then, I’ve branched out as a freelance journalist, traveled to the most intriguing places and published my pieces in national and international newspapers and magazines I never thought I would see my work in.

But despite all of this, there is nothing that challenges me more — and gives me as much joy as writing this column for the paper I grew up with.

I have received more email about the issues I’ve written about here for the last few years, than I have about anything else I have ever written. It has made me appreciate so many aspects of this city I had never thought about before, and taught me the true value of how important local journalism is, and that despite the chaos that has occurred in the journalism industry since I left school, people actually still read their local paper and sometimes even take the time to email writers their thoughts about what they read.

It has given me an opportunity to connect with people in this community, to debate with them, exchange stories and express my appreciation. It has given me a voice I never thought I had, and from what I’ve been told, become a sort of bridge to segments of our community that have often misunderstood each other.

Last night, many segments of that community came out to Abril Bookstore, one of the treasures of Glendale that I will truly miss (and that you should visit whether you happen to be Armenian or not), to say goodbye to me.

At some point last year, I applied for a unique writing residency called Write A House that gives homes away to writers in Detroit, Mich., so that they can do what they do best: continue to write. It was a crazy concept, I thought, but I had always been fascinated with the history of of Detroit and the rapid changes and challenges it is facing now.

A few months after that, as I sat in my rented apartment in Mongolia while on a reporting assignment, I found out that I had won the residency after competing with more than 200 applicants across the country.

As you read this, I am probably on my plane journey to my new home in Detroit, terrified of the impending cold, as any homegrown Californian would be. I am slowly starting to see that the community spirit I grew up with in Glendale is reflected in the community I will be part of when I get to the Motor City, something that I am so thankful for.

I’m grateful to the editors of this paper, who work hard and often stay behind the scenes, for giving me the opportunity to get closer to the soul of Glendale through a column I never even knew I wanted, but one that I get to keep as I make my way through life in a city that is attempting to rebuild itself.

I might be leaving Los Angeles, but I’m taking a bit of Glendale with me, and a very hefty coat. See you soon on the other side, Jewel City.

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LIANA AGHAJANIAN is a Los Angeles-based journalist whose work has appeared in L.A. Weekly, Paste magazine, New America Media, Eurasianet and The Atlantic. She may be reached at liana.agh@gmail.com.

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