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My name is Robert Sullivan, and as of this week, I have taken over the Clemmons Courier from Chandler Inions.

Like many journalists, I struggle to write about myself, so I figured I would just lead with the most obvious part of this column.

I know that Clemmons is an interesting, charming and, to put it simply, great community that I look forward to being a part of. I’m particularly excited to meet the many people that make up that great community and work with them.

This is not my first time working with the Courier, as I have spent some time covering for Chandler when he was out of town or otherwise needed to take time off as we both work together at the Salisbury Post.

I have already worked with some of our great contributors, including Jim Buice and Jay Spivey, and read some of the great stories there are to tell in this community. While I have not been able to work with Mandy Haggerson or Lena Pearson, our “Titan Tattler” writer, I have been lucky enough to read their work and know that I’m inheriting talented writers.

However, I know that I am stepping into a community that has been here for over 200 years and a paper that has served that community for over six decades, so I know I have plenty of learning to do and a lot of history to live up to.

For my first few weeks, I will focus on learning about the community and putting out the quality newspaper y’all have become accustomed to. I do have a few ideas up my sleeves, though, and look forward to implementing them in the near future.

To actually cover some ground about me, I got interested in journalism at a young age. My mother was an English teacher at Salisbury High School, and she always made sure to cut out stories about her students that appeared in the Post and place them on a bulletin board in the back of her classroom.

While young me might not have fully understood it then, I was seeing the importance of telling the community’s stories and celebrating, helping, protecting and informing our neighbors in real time.

So, when I graduated from Appalachian State University and saw a reporter position open at my hometown paper, I applied and have been lucky enough to work alongside and learn from some of those very same writers whose stories adorned that high school classroom.

If anyone wants to share ideas with me, ask about the newspaper or just talk, my email is robert.sullivan@clemmonscourier.net.

Now you know a little bit about me. I like to think of myself as an open book, so if you ever want to know anything else, do not hesitate to reach out. All I ask is that you return the favor whenever you have a great story worth telling.

Robert Sullivan is editor of the Clemmons Courier.