Life never turns out how you expect it to. Or how you plan or dream it might.

But everything always seems to work out in the long run, sometimes even better than you could have imagined.

That is exactly what has happened to me since I found my way to eastern Kentucky.

I didn’t really know the area existed before I found myself lured here for work after college.

I remember my first drive to Pikeville like it was yesterday. When I left the college town of Athens, Ohio, the foothills were wrapped in thick fog. But, by the time I crossed the Kanawa River in Charleston and began to wind my way down U.S. 119, the fog had lifted and spring was in full bloom all around me.

Later that day when I was offered a job with the Appalachian News-Express immediately following my interview, I accepted it on the spot.

The position paid a few bucks more an hour than my job at the sandwich shop and it was in my chosen field. I was also less than a month away from being homeless when my lease ran out and I really didn’t want to move back in with one of my parents while I looked for work.

I had been searching for a job for months but the News-Express was my first and only interview. My friends advised holding out for more money in a big city like they were doing but I felt I didn’t have that luxury.

Besides, I was already an avid hiker and the idea of living in a rural mountain town appealed to me.

Looking back, it was the best decision I’ve ever made.

After several months there, an AP reporter pointed me toward The Independent in Ashland.

Although I loved the adventure of the stories I found easily in Pikeville — something crazy and unimaginable was always happening there — I was struggling to pay my bills and buy the new car I so desperately needed.

I remember that older, wiser reporter telling me that The Independent would not only pay more but would be the best place for me to continue to learn my trade. At The Independent, he told me, I’d be guided and given the opporunty to become a great reporter.

He was absolutely right. But there is no way he could have known what else I would find here.

In less than five years, I’ve found where I feel I truly am meant to be.

I came to eastern Kentucky for work but I found a home, the best friends I’ve ever had and my soul mate.

The time I have spent at The Independent has truly deepened my passion for journalism. My experiences here have sharpened my writing and reporting skills and have thickened my skin against the personal attacks and criticism that are part of the job.

The guidance and support from my colleagues has been immeasurable. I have been flattered by the confidence they have placed in me from the very beginning.

I have also been touched by the community that has so often opened its arms and heart to me. I have been inspired countless times by individuals I’ve written about, lifted up by their commitment, determination and selflessness to the region and others.

I have also felt deep, gut-wrenching disappointment by setbacks to the community and cried many, many tears over the tragedies and misfortunes of others that I have been called on to cover.

I am truly honored by the trust so many individuals have placed in me when they have shared all these stories and experiences with me.

So it is with a heavy heart that I say goodbye to The Independent.

I’ve found myself at another figurative crossroads in life and have chosen again to take another winding mountain road, which leads somewhere I’ve never been ...

CARRIE STAMBAUGH became a reporter for The Independent in 2005.