Vogt's Notes: On the record, I landed a great first job

Welcome to Chapter 2 as I reflect on my journalism career with plans to retire at year's end. I've shared my news, and I've told about how I got my start in a community journalism career. Now I'll tell you about my first foray into that so-called real world. It started with ambition, and rejection letters. Quite a few rejection letters I recently rediscovered after digging through a bin of college stuff I found tucked in the far corner of a little room under the stairs. I was fascinated to learn that these rejection letters came from newspapers that today are part of Forum Communications Co., just like the Echo Journal. One is in an envelope with the old The Brainerd Daily Dispatch logo and typed on letterhead showing the old building on South Sixth Street downtown. The letter from the office manager at the time said there were no openings in the editorial department and my resume would be kept on file for 90 days.

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