Frank Stanko leaving Watershed Voice staff writer position, will serve on board of directors

Hi, it’s Frank Stanko. Today, Friday, January 3, is my last day as a staff writer for Watershed Voice. When Watershed Voice returns later this month, I will be serving as a member of its board of directors. An excellent reporter, Najifa Farhat, is assuming the staff writer position.

I want you all to know that my leaving the staff writer position is not because of any disagreement with others. Alek, Deborah, and Steph are my friends and colleagues, and I look forward to getting to know Najifa. I also have no issues with anyone in Three Rivers, Sturgis, and the surrounding communities.

Okay, so why am I no longer a staff writer after seven months? The seeds for my departure were actually planted some time ago.

I’m 36 and a graduate of the University of Dayton, Ohio. For nearly nine years, I worked at the Daily News in Wahpeton, North Dakota. I covered Richland County and eventually served as managing editor before my departure. Last June, I moved from Wahpeton back to my home state of Michigan.

It was exciting to continue my career. It was also overwhelming.

I know now that I didn’t give myself a breathing period. I didn’t allow myself time to fully move on from something that impacted my life for so long. In some ways, I tried to graft my previous attitude and experience onto my new one, which wasn’t fair for anybody.

Once I was honest with myself about needing to move forward, I realized there’s more depth to the situation. I’ve had some bad habits for a long time. The biggest one is a fixation about trying to cover everything. From there, problems like poor stress management, not taking care of myself, lack of engagement, and burnout emerged.

Exhaustion is not fun. Many compassionate people warned me about the danger of burning out. You never realize just how bad it’s going to be until it happens, though. Either way, I take responsibility for my problems and how to solve them.

I need some time to not be in journalism. Whether I’m outright retired or taking a rest is yet to be determined. I’m happy to be remaining in the Watershed Voice family while I get my head together. I debated whether I could improve myself and still stay on the job. Right now, I’m thinking that if I’m in a situation where I’ll have no reason to slip back into unhealthy behavior, I can use my time to get it out of my system.

Journalism is still something I care about and respect. Fighting disinformation and providing voices for those unheard is essential, now more than ever.

After just over nine years of the daily grind and about half of my life with it being my career and my calling, I need to put journalism on the shelf right now.

I like to say that an article is singular, and a story is ongoing. We’ll see if this concludes the series or I’m just on a break.

Fondly + Forever,

Frank

Frank Stanko is an outgoing staff writer and incoming board member for Watershed Voice.