When it’s time to write the first sentence of a new blog post, I often summon different cliches in my head. This time, the cliche is relevant.

What a difference a year makes.

It was a little more than a year ago when I boldly walked across Mizzou Arena and accepted my diploma frame cover (the diplomas were actually mailed later — who knew?). The months of April and May 2010 were nothing short of overwhelming. After spending five years earning a bachelor’s degree and racking up thousands in student loans, it was time to enter a bleak job market while journalists were losing their jobs nationwide.

The voice of desperation was clear in my resumes and cover letters, back then. It was a fun discovery while updating my resume today. I don’t think I would have hired anyone that seemed so hopeless-sounding.

But I was able to delete all (I think) of that from my resume. And that’s a testament to how fortunate I’ve been during the past 13 months.

I started and finished an internship with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and now I’m the editor of a local news and information website in St. Louis. More importantly? I share an awesome house in Maplewood with a beautiful (and mostly nerdy) young lady, have a dog that high-fives me daily and somehow find time to play ultimate frisbee and slow-pitch softball weekly. This is the perfect life I always dreamed of while binging on Ramen back in Columbia.

So, what’s next? I’m still learning a lot about St. Louis and its culture (this post is coming to you live from MoKaBe’s Coffeehouse in Tower Grove; a new discovery for this St. Louis noob). Working toward an MBA by enrolling in night classes sounds appealing too, so I’ll spend the next few weeks studying for the GRE. Then I’ll likely apply for Washington University’s program.

And I’ll actually try to blog more. After all, that beautiful lady who I mentioned earlier was kind enough to build the website for me.