Longtime Dream Continues For New Patch Editor

“Erika, you’re up next. What do you want to be when you grow up?”

I was in fifth grade. I could hardly choose which outfit to wear each day, but I knew for absolute certain what I planned to do with the rest of my life.

While most kids tossed around obscure professions that changed with the season—a lion tamer, a pirate, the second-coming of Michael Jordan—I knew, even way back then, that I was going to be a reporter.

When I was 12, a fortune telling machine in Las Vegas assured me that I was on the right track and so I ran with it. It had, after all, been confirmed by the (for entertainment purposes only) fates that I was going to grow up and tell stories, and report tragedies, and tackle issues that matter.

Junior high and high school were spent working toward that goal. I labored over the school newspapers and yearbooks, and by the time college hit I was ready to put my newfound skills (and my longtime passion) to the test. I left Illinois where I was raised and flew across the country to Arizona for college where I dove headfirst into the journalism world.

Late nights were spent in a dusty basement newsroom agonizing over word counts. Weekends were spent chasing sources between class assignments and nights out with friends. I didn’t regret a second of the time I spent doing what I loved. When you have a lifelong dream, working toward it seems easy.

With my cap, gown and diploma in hand, I headed back to Illinois in search of my first full-time reporter position. It was there where I had the opportunity to cover murder trials and mass shootings, but I was also afforded the opportunity to explore and share amazing things about the Fox Valley. I’ve met hundreds and hundreds of people during my career (which I’m so happy to be continuing with Patch), and I’d like to think each interview has left me a better person. The things that matter to you all are the things that matter to me. I look forward to figuring out what those things are!

Without you, I wouldn’t have a job. Without you, I wouldn’t have stories to tell.

Without you, the world is a pretty boring place. So, please reach out with your thoughts and ideas and concerns. Know that I will give each of them the attention they deserve. I’ve spent 20 years in this career not because of me, but because of you—our readers, our sources, our neighbors, our friends, and a fortune telling machine in Las Vegas.

Contact me at erika.wurst@patch.com.