'Redding taught me how to fight, persist, endure.' Sports reporter Hanson heads to Indiana.

It is with heartfelt appreciation and gratitude to announce that this is my last week as sports reporter in Redding.

These past four years have been magnificent beyond reason. I'm truly thankful and humbled for the numerous friendships I've cultivated throughout my years in Shasta County.

We entered this relationship together, not knowing each other and being scared of what a new voice might bring. I drifted in from Los Angeles on a sleepy and empty train car, determined to make a name for myself as a journalist.

As cocky as I was, I barely got an apartment in my name. I didn't even have a driver's license. I called former Foothill football coach Joey Brown "Joey Cooper" — a former baseball player I knew from college — so many times it became a running joke in town.

My first year, I didn't think I'd last six months. I didn't know anyone and couldn't figure out why people here had such a crusty disposition. I learned it was because I was an outsider. Earning respect takes time.

Four years later, the Record Searchlight was able to expand coverage to 18 different schools.

Now, my mission is taking me to West Lafayette, Indiana, to cover Purdue University athletics and tell stories of the wonderful high school sports heroes in that community. The new job will set me on the course to hopefully cover the Olympics one day.

Redding taught me how to fight, persist and endure, while the great R-S editor Jenny Espino turned my aimless and stale writing style into one that's active, colorful and unique. It takes a team to create something unique and I'm nothing without my great current and past coworkers: Damon Arthur, David Benda, Michele Chandler, Alayna Shulman, Matthew Brannon, Nada Atieh and Mike Chapman.

To the parents who kept me in check these last four years, your contributions can't go unnoticed. Without your readership and following, I couldn't exist. Even when I occasionally misspelled a student's name, you stuck around.

To the coaches and administration: I bet you'll miss the late night and sunrise phone calls about the latest news, events and scores.

The thing I'll miss the most, though, is the roar of the crowd from the student sections, from The Jungle at Foothill to the Rage Cage at U-Prep. Sports aren't nearly as fun, imaginative or entertaining without the thundering applause, playful banter and occasional booing.

Even in a small town with so many activities to choose from like fishing, hunting, hiking, camping, snowboarding, sunbathing by the lake — folks showed up in mass.

I love Redding, I love the North State and the mission isn't over.

This week, I plan to sprint through the finish line. That includes writing one more feature, covering high school football with passion and delivering one final Athletes of the Week story.

Thank you Shasta County. It's been my greatest honor to serve the North State.