Sometimes you just get lucky.

In December 2005 I was an aspiring journalist returning from 18 months living and working in Africa. I wanted to jump start my career and for the sake of my worrying mother's sanity, I wanted to stay close to home.

An ad on journalismjobs.com for a position at the Southeast Missourian helped me solve both these problems.

Like many St. Louisans, all I knew about Southeast Missouri was its dangerous proximity to Arkansas. Still, I jumped at the job with the enthusiasm of someone who believes a dart thrown at a map makes a pretty good career counselor.

Today I'm leaving the paper for another reporting post at the Columbia Daily Tribune in Columbia, Mo., and I just want to thank everyone who made my time here such a pleasure.

You see, when I took the job, I honestly didn't think it would be much more than a stop-gap, an opportunity to get some clips under my belt and bolster my resume. I didn't realize I was coming to a paper that does magic tricks with its resources and gives its reporters the freedom to cover stories any way they see fit.

Over the past year I've had the opportunity to cover extraordinary events like a speech by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and a roundtable discussion with Marine Corps Commandant and Southeast alumnus James Conway.

I've also found myself interviewing two shell-shocked pilots mere hours after a near-death experience at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport and sitting with a truck driver who escaped from the burning inferno of his 8,000-gallon oil tanker.

I wrote feature pieces on migrant workers, the minimum wage and dangerous dogs, and through it all I was challenged to think critically and dig deeper by both my editors and co-workers.

In short, this has been the perfect job for a young reporter. I was fortunate enough to work in a newsroom where experienced journalists like Scott Moyers, Rudi Keller and Mark Bliss had both the expertise and the patience to answer every one of my dumb-dumb questions. Watching these seasoned vets cover their beats was better than any imaginable Journalism 101 course.

But possibly the best part of working at the Southeast Missourian is the kindness and generosity of the people of Cape Girardeau and surrounding areas. You see, as a reporter I regularly have to do things like approach strangers for quotes, call public officials at home and invent other ways to invade people's privacy.

Reporters, like telemarketers, get accustomed to having phones slammed down and generally being told to buzz off. But there must be something special about this part of the state. Almost everyone I ever approached responded with a smile and gladly welcomed me into his or her world if only for a moment.

Even city officials politely responded to my phone calls after I published critical articles and gently pointed out errors without a hint of malice.

Generosity seems to be a plentiful commodity around these parts. Two weeks ago I wrote a column about a teenage mother who has found herself homeless and out of options. You responded with offers of assistance and advice on appropriate social programs. One uber-generous reader actually stepped up and offered the young lady a job.

I've found this compassionate spirit everywhere I looked in Southeast Missouri.

I guess what I'm trying to say in a roundabout way is: Thank you. You've helped make my first reporter's job a great one. Many of you have been understanding of my mistakes and surprisingly supportive when my opinions veer outside the norm and off into the wild blue yonder.

I feel privileged to have interviewed many of you, and I hope my columns and stories made you look at your world a bit differently. I'm leaving the paper, but I'm carrying with me lifelong friendships and priceless experiences. I'm probably not telling you anything you don't know when I say you've got a great paper here. I just feel blessed to have been a part of it.

TJ Greaney is a staff reporter for the Southeast Missourian.