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On May 20, 2019, I started my journey in LaGrange and at The LaGrange Daily News. Now, exactly one year later, I’m looking back at how much I have learned about this area, and how much I have fallen in love with the community. 

One of the biggest things I had to learn was there are a lot of one-way streets in downtown and you will go down the wrong way at least once. 

Secondly, no one is a stranger and everyone likes to hug a lot. Everyone in Troup County has been so helpful with helping me find my way, introducing me to people and helping me make connections. 

I’ve been able to see the behind the scenes work that community leaders put in throughout Troup County, and let me tell you that it’s a lot. I have never seen a harder working group of people than those who are constantly working on making LaGrange, Hogansville and West Point move and evolve. 

Two days before moving to LaGrange, I was graduating from Troy, where I was a Division I athlete running cross country and track, a member of the sorority Alpha Gamma Delta, the writing editor of the university’s yearbook and a reporter for another Boone newspaper, The Troy Messenger. You could say I stayed busy during my time at Troy. 

Moving to LaGrange, I had a huge fear I wouldn’t make friends, or be able to be as involved as I was at Troy. Let me tell you, this little small town Alabama girl got involved. 

From the Chamber of Commerce’s HYPE board, partnerships I have made with my photography business, the mom’s running group that welcomed me in with open arms, the ThreeLife Church media team, to the LaGrange High School football coaches’ wives, I have found my people. 

I am incredibly thankful especially for my running group ladies and the women who welcomed me to the sidelines on Friday nights to watch an incredible group of men invest in their players. 

When Tyler and I moved to LaGrange, it was a homecoming for him to go back to coaching at a school where he once played. For me it was scary, but I found my way. I am thankful that LaGrange welcomed me in and am especially thankful for the staff at LDN for molding me and making me a better reporter and photographer. Looking back, I wouldn’t change a thing. 

I can’t wait for many more years in LaGrange and to hopefully raise my children here one day. 

If you never need anything LaGrange, my office number is 706-407-2662 or you can always reach me via email at jenna.oden@lagrangenews.com.