In August of 2010, I left Northern California for Oklahoma. I’d never spent a day in the state. Researched very little about it. Didn’t know a single person who lived there.

Six years later, to the exact month, I’m retracing those steps, leaving Oklahoma for a return to Northern California and an incredible career opportunity: I’ve accepted a job covering the Golden State Warriors for the San Jose Mercury News/Bay Area News Group.

I’m excited about what’s ahead – a new professional challenge, a chance to document the story of the sports world and a 45-minute, not 28-hour, drive to see family. But I’ll be forever grateful for what I left behind, a place that both became my second home and paved this awesome, unlikely dream path back to my original one.

My first job in Oklahoma was as the bullpen catcher for the Oklahoma State softball team. I got it a few days after stepping foot in the state. I was 20 and without a firm life direction. I came to the school to study sports media, but I had little idea how any of it worked.