Ethan Hanson: Words aren't enough. Thank you, Lafayette

Writing on a Friday morning, and what I feel is true terror. A paralyzing fear of the news I'm about to break and of the hearts about to be shredded for what I'm about to unveil.

Ethan Hanson is leaving Lafayette and heading back to Los Angeles to take a dream job at the newspaper he grew up in and to fulfill his dream of eventually covering the Olympics.

Seems perfect right? The guy from California gets to go back to his hometown to write another memorable chapter. But as I sit here on a wonky, black bar chair writing, I can't help to think about everything I'm about to lose. The relationships and friendships I've made in just over three years of covering high school sports and Purdue women's basketball.

The parents I've connected with, the strokes of luck I've had because of Hoosier Hospitality guiding me either to the right direction when I was lost or simply needed an ear when I missed my family and wasn't able to see them during the holiday.

In the course of being a stranger, I was somehow melded into this wonderful, beautiful and passion driven sports community where the Boilermakers are loved above all win or lose and the biggest pulse of a gymnasium was felt on a snowy day in January inside either West Lafayette, Frankfort, Michigantown or Monon.

Writing this, it pains me to say that I'm leaving Lafayette to head back to Los Angeles and become the leader of the very newspaper, the Los Angeles Daily News, that picked me up as a freelancer many years ago. The paper I never said 'no' too and took every assignment. My editors didn't know that sometimes I'd cut class during college to take assignments. The newsprint runs deep and for me, the ink hits hard because I know the stories and communities that are represented.

But it's hard. Sometime between having my apartment freeze in my third month of living here and becoming a youth referee, a part of me wanted to convince myself that Indiana was it. Save money, find my own piece of Earth to build a farm and raise home livestock. The American Dream with kind neighbors to eventually grow old with.

The kids I met here and the stories I told were impactful. Some nights I'd be driving back home crying. Even in my weakness and constant battles with Imposter Syndrome, the high school students and their stories of adversity offered me a new perspective. These weren't just stories I was writing — I was learning about life.

Xavier Schultz taught me what real toughness was.

Attica coach Derek Dean showed how to build foundations into a winner.

Benton Central's Cali Foster demonstrated poise in pain.

Aubrey Bartkowiak proved any obstacle can be overcome and then became a champion when her back was against the ground.

All these stories became important pieces in my life and helped me grow as both a writer and a person continuously trying to make the world more kind.

Lafayette is a special place, full of special people. It isn't for the weak, and I'll admit that I didn't know what hard work and persistence was until I met Sam King. There's no person on this Earth that knows more about Lafayette area sports quite like Sam. The way he writes and weaves the action and emotions of a Purdue men's basketball game is a skill I'm still continually trying to acquire. And through his example, the standard for how I wrote stories grew.

I do not become endeared to the community if it weren't for Sam King.

I'm sad that the journey in Indiana is coming to an end, but I'm thankful for all the virtues I've learned and connections that I pray will be lifelong.

Forever indebted to the kindness shown by Lafayette and allowing this stranger to fit into this state's culture. Indiana became family.

My only lasting hope is that I left Lafayette better than I entered and allow the best reporter in this vaunted post to flourish.

Faith Christian's Luke Barrett, left, presented a special basketball to departing Journal and Courier sportswriter Ethan Hanson before he left for his new job, a symbol of the impact Hanson had in his three years working for the newspaper.

Ethan Hanson was a sports reporter for the Journal & Courier in Lafayette. Follow him in his next journey on Twitter atEthanAHanson and Instagram at  ethan_a_hanson.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Journal & Courier reporter Ethan Hanson reflects on time in Lafayette