Thomas Czaja, Neighbor

Being a lifelong resident of Lemont, I am thrilled to be writing for the Lemont Patch and covering all of our local news and happenings.

I am a Lemont High School graduate (where I was a former sports writer for the Tom-Tom), and chose to begin my college education at Lewis University in Romeoville. After spending two years there and originally looking to potentially go into a business major, I fully realized my love of writing, and decided to pursue it as a career rather than a hobby.

With this goal in mind, I made the decision to transfer to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where I am currently double majoring in English and Journalism. I have been grateful for all the opportunities and practice the School of Journalism and Mass Communication there has given me. I began to write for one of the school newspapers, The Daily Cardinal, my first year in Wisconsin, and have gained experience in covering campus news, city news, sports, and some copyediting as well.

After graduating next year, my desire is to continue to follow a path of writing in some format. As the landscape of journalism continues to change and evolve, hyperlocal news sites like Lemont Patch offer a valuable opportunity for young writers like myself to do what I like to do, and for residents to hopefully become more informed.

When I am not doing any of my required writing, I still like to write for fun because I enjoy it so much. Some of my other hobbies include reading, traveling, playing sports/working out, and hanging out with my family and friends. I am an avid Chicago sports fan (except for the Cubs) and collegiately speaking, I am all Wisconsin Badgers.