Press-News Journal Welcomes New Summer Intern

From Ocean Waves to Everybody Waves

I live thirty minutes from the Atlantic Ocean in Massachusetts and have little to no connection to Lewis County, the state of Missouri, or the Midwest in general – however, nearly a dozen people waved hello to me on my very first day here. This was the kind of small-town, Midwestern friendliness that I thought was only a legend, and I am now experiencing it firsthand!

My name is Adam Lipsey and I am a Junior at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. I have a younger brother and a dog, and all three of us like chasing tennis balls (the dog was the only one who didn’t make the high school team). Some of my hobbies include photography, watching football, and spending time with family and friends. I also study American history, and as my interest in the subject grew throughout school, so did my eagerness to learn about other parts of the country. One particular memory I have was when my middle school history teacher mentioned the significance of Council Bluffs, Iowa during the 19th century expansion westward, and the city’s subsequent growth as a trading hub during the gold rush. I didn’t pay attention to what he said next, because I was already searching the textbook so I could learn as much as I could about it.

So when the opportunity arose to travel far from the familiarity of the Northeast and intern at the Press-News Journal, I immediately took it. I hope to contribute a number of things to the paper and community this summer, like writing about the community engagement I have been seeing and the different ways people enjoy the weekend during the summer months. Another idea is to write about the area as a visitor looking in. Among the first reflections I can share is that I finally got to see a grain elevator in person, and they are even more massive than I imagined. Furthermore, I was expecting Northeast Missouri to be entirely flat; my walk up the hill from Casey’s proved this expectation very wrong.

I look forward to sharing my experiences with you in the weeks ahead. Please get in touch with PNJ if you are part of a local organization that is looking for a volunteer, as I hope to document a volunteering position as part of my column.